Flood Pictures

Dh was driving over the bridge, that's the river almost to the top of the bridge!

More Flood Pictures

There have been a lot of on lookers, shocked most probably, it's amazing how fast the water came up.

Target and Walmart under water. We were promised by our city officials that this wouldn't happen if Target and Walmart were allowed to build in the flood plain - the theory was they dug a hole somewhere to offset the water issues. I argued the whole way that this was a load of horse apples it would flood again and would be worse, and I was right we have water in our basement which we DIDN"T have in 1993!!! That's how much the flood plain is now screwed up.

This is our local Target, and what used to be the parking lot.

Well it's amost 6 pm here and the water is still rising! Yesterday this was a corn field. To the left where the tree line is is the river, about 500 yards away.

Flood Waters

There used to be soccer fields here - Iowa State University property. The river is about 500 yards, or more, from the road in this shot. The news is now stating that this IS as bad as the flood of 1993 now.

It's Flooding Here

The water was really close to the road, the river is back a ways in this shot, about 100 yards

The guy driving the bus is my husband John! I can't believe people were driving through the water, what you don't see here is the river is about 175 yards to the right and down about 15 feet, well normally it is anyway!

The water is rising fast and it's really high! It's about where it was in 1993. In the half hour that Brenda and I were gone for lunch the water came up and covered most of the road we had been previously driving on.

Today's Word

Colossians 4:2 - 6

Star of Bethlehem

Photographed this beauty at a friends house this afternoon.

Leaf Pile

Ok I went and took a picture of the leaf pile because it just looks so cool! John is outside making gates for my compost bins as I write.

Rhubarb

So yesterday dh weeded my rhubarb and we decided that we'd make some rhubarb jam this morning. Well that didn't pan out as someone had made off with about half of my rhubarb plants, I'm still pissed off about this. There have been a LOT of things disappearing out of our lawn of late, pots, flowers, grapevines and now my rhubarb.

Leaf Pile

I'm too tired to walk out and photograph the leaf pile now, it's been a LONGGGGG day shoveling etc., but here's what it looks like to scale of the truck. Tomorrow, if it's dry enough, we will shred it and incorporate it into the compost pile. Rumor has it it's going to rain here again. John and I moved the pile from the back yard to the drive way and spred it out to dry up some.

Finished - Compost Bins

And they are about half full, full of horse apples that is! We picked up a truck full, just over a half ton, and with the help of our neighbor Carol, got it mixed in with some shredded leaves etc., it should be ready for this fall's garden applications.

Blackberry Leaf

There are thorns going up the stem of the blackberry leaves!

Transplants

I transplanted mullien and milkweed from the neighbors lawn they are doing quite well.

Shade Garden Plants

I'm not sure what this plant is but it lives in my shade garden and spreads via little runners.

New Compost Bins

John is making new compost bins for me, three of them so I can sort if I want. Due to severe weather it will have to look like this until tomorrow!

One lone blossom

I found one lone blossom had opened on my clematis vine out front the color of the blossoms is different every year and I'm not sure why.

Cool Weather

I still have to go out and plant rhutabegas and beets this afternoon and there are a lot of weeds to be pulled already, imagine that!!! I'll have to post a pic of my least favorites later this evening, but this one in particular Virginia Water Leaf is the bane of my existance, garden wise, it's a native but it's taking over everything.

Dh has the next four days off, it's going to be a major push to get the other garden spot uncovered and planted, it currently has a lot of construction stuff planted there.

Something New - Ads

I'm trying out Googles AdSense on this site and if it works out well then I will expand to my other blogs. Right now I'd just love to know how to make content specific Google Ads, I'm thinking I'm not to "brilliant" when it comes to reading the help sections. Oh well, onward as they say.

Today

I didn't get the freezer addressed but that's ok John has Friday off from work, a four day weekend together he plans to take the new photos of the iceberg to the dealer to see about getting it fixed properly. It's still under warranty so why fight the thing, and I suspect because he's a guy that he'll be able to get the job done right this time.

I spent most of the day updating blogs and have applied for AdSense with Google, could be interesting. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning the kitchen, pulling out the fridge and vacuuming behind it, something that should be done at least once a decade right???

We did decide on putting hte maple flooring in the kitchen, will have to take a picture of the bare plywood, and I'll paint it whence it's in. I've plans to paint the floor in a black and white pattern. the walls will be painted Medici White ~ Sherwin Williams Paint, and the cabinets lettuce green, an nice soft green color ~ Dutch Boy Paint, and the ceiling Friendly Yellow ~ Sherwin Williams.

And since I didn't spend any time in the garden today here's a picture of last years marigolds, which turned out quite pretty.

Garden Day 2

Dh whose rather bothered by my need to snap his photo, he was stretching chicken wire onto little posts to, hopefully, keep the rabbits and stray dogs out of my garden.

Bell Peppers in front of the cattle panels, there will be pole beans growing on the panels and hopefully soon! The area right in front of the peppers I plan to fill with rhutabegas (sp?), beets, and turnips.

Some tomatoes, I've put coffee cans around them to protect them from the high winds we get during the spring and from birds, which love snapping off the young plants. To the left of the tomato cages are cattle panels on end I've planted pole beans, Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake, around the perimeter of the garden.

Freezer Issues

I've had the upright plugged in for about six weeks now, and it needs defrosting already. The repairman has informed me that it does NOT need a new seal it's my issue! I've plans for a meeting with his employer tomorrow! It's bad enough my 50 year old freezer died and took a quarter beef with it but dealing with this three year old freezer is just insane!

Cherry Tree in Bloom

Beans Beans and More Beans

I'm off to set up my panels and plant pole beans, more pictures later!

Some Plants

Baby purple cabbage plants - hey I'm a childless wonder so every plant is officially a baby!

Jerusalem Artichokes coming up everywhere, very yummy to eat btw.

Leeks they winter over here really well.

Garlic that is in desperate need of thinning.

Garden Scenes

A view from my porch my two gardens are pretty well shaded making a lot of vegetables a real challenge to grow.

Garlic, leeks, onions, summer herbs, tomatoes and purple cabbages in the east garden.

Mullien, Phlox, Blue Vervain, Plantain, Bee Balm and Echnicia

Creeping thyme, bloodroot, solomon's seal, false solomon's seal, and some other plant that have no idea what it is and can't seem to get rid of!

I'm trying to make the most of my law, here is my butterfly garden that also doubles as a native prairie plant and medicinal garden.

Garden Space

Dh got the new garden space tilled up today, I'll take pictures tomorrow. He also planted the new asparagus roots, which the chipmunks, hopefully, won't eat! Tomorrow it's Hosta and Iris transplanting, composting the new garden and maybe even get the rest of the tomato plants in, and here's praying it doesn't freeze again till this fall.

We set out a bunch of blackberry bushes on the curb - posted to freecycle - and they've found a new home already. Seems the blackberries produce more vines than berries so hopefully the new owners can get some berries out of them.

Rain Rain Go Away!

Dh and I went out morel hunting this morning and found a couple pounds, and I discovered that my waterproof leather boots are not so waterproof anymore. They are five years old and I'm sure the coating has more than dried off by now. Since the boots are still rather new I'll be working on waterproofing them once again.

Tis the Season

Picked 20 morels this morning, good haul after last nights gully washer - one tornado that went north of town a piece yet. Most places got two or more inches of rain last night, we got 1.6 inches in less than an hour. Heard tales while morel picking of some places getting five inches, tis a lot of rain. Too many people walking around in the woods, the place is getting to be really trampled.

FFAC Collage Mania

The Fiber Art for a Cause Collage Mania Sale begins today! Virginia Spiegel is raising money for the American Cancer Society, and there are many many artists participating in this wonderful cause!

And remember I will be donating one third of the sale of any artwork sold on my Etsy.com store now through the end of May!

Spring has Sprung!

The magnolias are in bloom here, a sure sign that summer is definately on it's way, finally!