IOWA SNOWS

It was a white Christmas here.



Moving water is beginning to freeze.

SUDDENLY WINTER

Now they're all gone.



Jesse cares not for Winter.

UP TO DATE

If Only in my Dreams.


Window Light


Wet


Stuck


Graindust Sunrise

STILL BEHIND

Little Red Wagon



Nash in the Weeds



Pretty in Private



Path to Autumn



Place in the Shade

MORE CATCHING UP

Friday Night- Everyone is Ready



Happy Halloween



World Toy Camera Day



Canning Hot Sauce



Harvest Time

CATCHING UP ON PHOTOS

Main Street



Reading Backwards



Howdy



Shy



Sumac

THE KIDS AT CHURCH

Remember getting uncontrollable giggles? This bunch got em this morning in church. It was fun watching them try to stop.

TYMPANY TRIP HAT

The latest addition to Pam's knit projects is the "Tympany Trip" hat, knit with yarn bought on vacation at Nautical Yarn in Ludington Michigan.

I like this hat not just because it's beautiful, but it reminds me of the Mad Bomber hat I bought at Bass Pro Shops, which is soooo warm on sub-zero days.

AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN

I'm trying to get back to taking walks regularly because it's "good for me." It gets monotonous, but taking a camera along makes it less so. This particular day the sun was setting and clouds were moving in, and in a tiny window of sky the sun and clouds were mingling to produce a beautiful amber glow behind the Co-op Grain Elevator.

THE GARDEN THAT NEVER ENDS

It must seem like it has no end, to Marcy, who has been canning and pickling everything that John can pick.

This was taken a little over a month ago and since that time the back yard has become considerably more colorful. With the explosive blooming of flowers, one could say that hummingbirds almost outnumber mosquitoes in this back yard.

SURPRISE! NAKED LADIES!

Our Surprise Lilies, AKA Naked Ladies have sprung up in a beautiful cluster and I took advantage of a breezeless evening to snap a picture of them.

GOOD NEIGHBORS

Our neighbor Shelly has a large vegetable and flower garden. I've wandered over there with my camera a few times and shot her flowers. I happened to get over there and capture these dahlias with some good early evening light.

MY MOM AND ME

My Mom and me on her back porch. Taken with a Diana.

JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS

Just by chance, we met up with Carolyn at the Jasper County Fair. It's just one of those things that worked out perfectly 'by chance." It was a fun evening.

BLUE LAKE & MICHIGAN PART TWO

Alice at the main entrance to Blue Lake.





The Symphony Orchestra and Concert Orchestra. Alice is in both pictures, but it's difficult to find her.



Alice in official Blue Lake attire on concert day.



Woodwind Ensemble.



Piano practice cabins named Do, Re, and Mi.



Bartlett Shell is one of the performance centers scattered throughout the woods at Blue Lake, and where all of Alice's concerts were held.



The performers were performing and the instrument cases were at ease, in the shelter house behind the band shell.



One of many beautiful practice areas in the woods.




Pam found a great knitting shop in Holland, Michigan.



Cooperative Models.



Pam in Paradise!



Friends of Wool - A Shop for Knitters. Holland Michigan.

BLUE LAKE & MICHIGAN TRIP

This past week we took Alice to Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in the Muskegon, Michigan area. The camp is situated in a beautiful pine forest.


"Schubert" is the cabin in which Alice bunked.


A panoramic shot of the inside of Schubert Cabin.


A note from Genevieve, a Blue Lake camper who bunked on Alice's cot during the first Summer session. She stayed over for the second two week session but had to change cabins. Alice and Genevieve quickly became friends


The cluster of cabins which make up a unit.


Getting some last minute texting in before cellphone use is forbidden at camp.


Pam and Alice at Texas Roadhouse for lunch before heading back to camp for the duration.

THE REST OF OUR MICHIGAN TRIP:

After leaving Alice at Blue Lake, Pam and I drove to Eastern Michigan to visit Pam's Uncle, but before leaving the Muskegon area we drove to the beach along Lake Michigan.

The Eastern shore of Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful day and the lake was absolutely stunning. This was the first time I had seen it, and to say I was awestruck is an understatement.


I'm sitting by the lake, looking like I do this all the time.


Pam and her Uncle Kenneth


Pam's Uncle Kenneth has twenty six varieties of apples in his orchard.

Kenneth lives near the beautiful town of Frankenmuth, "Michigan's Little Bavaria."

One of the highlights of Frankenmuth is Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, a store the size of 1 1/2 football fields filled with Christmas gifts and trimmings.



"Merry Christmas" in Russian and "Happy New Year" in Ukrainian.





To top off our trip to Frankenmuth we had dinner at Zehnder's, a restaurant I highly recommend and intend to return to someday to eat the entire portion of the "Chicken Liver Plate," with all the sides.