Been to the dump..........twice!

It is always an interesting and memorable experience going to the Clarke County Landfill in southern Iowa.  The smell that lingers on your shoes is enough to keep you remembering. In Iowa we pile our trash in piles and then drive over them with large machinery that has big heavy metal wheels.  It smashes everything and once the pile is so deep they bring in fill dirt to mix with it and cover it over, layer by layer.  The mounds could be turned into sky slopes by the time they have finished.
A list of things that make going to the dump so great!

It is a high altitude on top of the heap and the wind was blowing and the birds were singing all over with a great view of a gravel pit below.

The guy who runs the smasher and myself become great friends as he goes through my boxes for good stuff.  I even gave him a pair of rubber boots, matched pair, size 11, perfect fit. He kept saying he wasn't suppose to take things home with him, but his boss had 30 large speakers in his garage at home.

I gave the guy a box of license plates that I decided to toss but really didn't want to but did it anyway. He had a friend in Virginia that he is going to give them to for me who collects license plates.

Dead cat.

On my second run, I watched a dump truck unload a very large batch of Morrell packaged meat.  It was declared contaminated and the guy with the large wheeled machine was required to destroy it while they watched to be sure no one retrieved the product from the dump.

I was able to walk around in the smashed meat products while I emptied my truck.

I watched a guy with a trailer filled with scrap shingle material.  He was throwing it off one shingle at a time so he probably is still up there.

Driving up steep grades in a truck and dodging earth moving machines.

Going home and still being able to smell the dump on the tires of the truck and on your shoes.

Thanks for stopping by.........

Keep on trucking.........

I would love to own this truck, but I do not.  I took a lot of photos of it a few years back and I dug this photo out of my archives. I am still  having download problems but I will survive.

An archived photo of a horse and person splashing around in a fountain in Kansas City. Missouri. 

I am a hoarder maybe but I can't throw away the last few jars that are still at my parent's garage. I need to go to the landfill with the last loads from my parents property and I will bring the jars home. They are a form of beauty and one doesn't destroy that. 

I have a lot of people in my life right now who I am very concerned about. I wasn't going to blog but I guess I can't keep from connecting with you all.  I have a 94 year old uncle who has just worn out. We saw him at the hospital today and his heart is just failing him.  No cancer so there is no pain,  he is just exhausted.  Others in my life that I know have such different illness that add to the load of care.  It is hard somedays to be positive and yet I do have Hope. 

Thanks for stopping by............

Claritin Clear, no not really.......

I am under the weather with a sinus infection that just won't stop.  The pain is real compared to just a stuffy nose.  I took a Claritin and I am now a zombie.  I don't take meds without going to sleep so to speak.  I did get some mowing done outside.  I had not mowed the yard for a couple of weeks as the grass has slowed down in it's growing.  This yellow rose is budded with four more blooms to come.  It is like the final yellow rose of Texas ushering me out through the fall.

I grabbed another pile of photos from upstairs that need to be sorted. I can do that in pain. I found a few more pictures to post of the days gone by on my Sepia Saturday blog.  I found some sad ones that just tell such sad stories of times long ago.  My brother also took photos at one of the funerals we had the past few years.  Why does he do that?  I don't like having group pictures of people with a casket behind them. I guess I would have rather just remembered who was there and not shoot random shots.

To solve my downloading problem, I created an individual  file in my Picasa account called "in the bank."  It is an extra step with an extra window up on the screen but I am putting my photos in that "bank" and am withdrawing them onto my blog.  It works but I am not happy about it.  Zinnia photos  are everywhere so I will keep sharing them not to have wasted a one. All photos by Burgus must be seen.  Not really but it does add some variety to what is on here.

My oxalis get to grow in the real earth during the summer and I now have two plants of them.  They definitely will not survive the frost so they will  have to be dug in a few weeks.  My birch tree is dropping dead leaves this year.  I don't know if I will get to see a yellow flash of color from it or not.  I hope that it does turn for me normally.

Well the yard is done, the blogs are now caught up for the day.  I am finishing my second cup of coffee and I am heading to the asprin bottle.  The Clariton dried my sinus cavities but that didn't make me feel better.  Sleep is coming over me as most medications cause that effect to me.

As my dear friend in France says,  "Ahh, tomorrow!"

Zinnia World.........

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was out snapping the last of the good flowers before a rain. The year has been too wet for them and they were not planted thick enough. I still had some beautiful flowers.  Many people don't notice the set of extra yellow flowers that a zinnia may put out in the center. They all don't  have this but a lot of them do.

This red zinnia has a funky shape and the color is wonderful too.

Another trio of blooms singing with bright color.  The blooms need to be picked soon so I will have seed for next year.

I still do not have my blogspot uploading status with photos working correctly.  I have adapted my processes to be able to post but I do hope it rights itself soon. 

Thanks for stopping by..........

Fall sets in........

You can tell it is fall when the days turn rainy and cold for a few days at a time and the sun is very noticeably shining further south .  Our tomorrows forecast does call for a totally clear day and warmth again.


I bought some new mums this year and I am hoping they do bloom soon. The established mums in the neighborhood are already in bloom so these guys are late.



While thinking of bringing in the plants this fall, I will bring these geraniums in the window planter in for another winter.

AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I am experiencing trouble with blogging again. As Google has me on a setting that now demands I upload all the photos that I want to use on my blog into a file on Picasa. They want me to retrieve them from that file. I had not known that every photo that I placed in the blogs that I write all end up into Picasa and I can retrieve photos that I have blogged before easily enough but I want to add new photos.

Right now I am going into settings and changing it back to the older format and when I get the photos downloaded I go back and change the settings to the newer format. It is driving me crazy. I know we have been here before with blogspot but I don't know it it will correct itself like it did in the past.

I have a few Picasa web albums already in which I used to download past wedding photos but I don't even know how to get there except through that bookmark. I will have to educate myself to change my ways if this continues. I remembering complaining the last time that this is two more steps to get to the adding of photos process in blogging.

My wife is also on blogspot and this problem doesn't exist for her.  I guess time will tell.  Have a good weekend even if it is inside.
Thanks for stopping by.............

Fall weather.......

The wind and the rain snapped this rose off and it withered in one day.  It was the only bloom that the rosebush had put out this year but there will be more next year.

Fluffy was the name one of our friends gave him as he does look like he needs a haircut.  He did have one after that to get the hair out of his eyes and to shorten his do just a little.

A busy Friday today but thought I would at least check in with a few things.  Rained most of the day yesterday but today looks more promising.  Thanks for stopping by...........Fall is here.

A moose in a bikini..........

Here is another report on the streets of Bar Harbor.  I shot these few photos just for my blogger fans.

Inside this store were  three very large murals of moose (plural) doing so many everyday activities.

They really enjoy vacationing in Maine as they fish among the lobster trap markers. I can really dig those shades on the moose to protect them from the bright sun's rays.

Even though the water is cold a few of the moose population do hit the beach.  You thought I was just tricking you about the moose in a bikini.  I didn't mention she was a blond moose and her friend is a long hair hippie.  I didn't see a signature of the artist or I would have given the person or persons credit for their work.  We didn't buy any shirts here as their prices seem to be higher here than in most stores.

Thanks for stopping by........

Wednesday's World...........

A photo of my trellis on my side porch.  I made the trellis with discarded oak pieces that were in the school dumpster.  I believe the vine is a wild hops vine as I can't grow my own there but this one voluteers itself each year.  I see it growing in peoples bushes and overtaking others arbors like a bandit in the daytime, stealing space without permission.  I really do enjoy it there but when it freezes I have to spend a long time taking it down off of the structure.

My hostas don't have slugs, we don't have them in Iowa, and I am glad. The spots I am assuming are insects of some sort and every hosta that I have is decorated with these minor blemishes.  I am assuming our long rainy summer encouraged this insect to multiply.

This is my wife's new T shirt from out East.  We both had to have new ones this year as the weather was good enough for us to go shopping to find them.

I have seen live moose on TV and in the movies but the only real live moose that I have ever seen was at the Minneapolis Zoo.  I have lost track of how many moose crossing signs that I have seen but never a large beast have I seen.  I know that they are a dangerous animal to be around so I guess I consider myself fortunate.  If I had seen one, maybe I wouldn't be blogging today.  Such is the ways of life.

We had rain and hail on Tuesday as we finally had dried out for awhile. It has been  a rainy two days now and yet it got hot yesterday, up to 89 degrees.    Those in the South are suffering from the heat and it is creeping up here. I didn't have to mow my yard today and I don't think I will do it tomorrow either.
Thanks for stopping in...........I know everyone out there is busy and I wish you the best.

Missed the boat........

We had a wonderful trip to Maine and that really was a good thing for a late summer vacation, but as I was looking through old photos, I found out something that we didn't do this summer.  It was so busy and we were just surviving the busy responsibilities of life that we skipped our trip to Duluth. We missed seeing the tugboat at the Canal Park harbor and the rose gardens and the Split Rock Lighthouse.  Oh well, life will go on I know.

I also found pictures of the anniversary trip we took last year in June to Kansas city.  Maybe at Christmas time we can go to see the lights of Country Club Plaza for a weekend. It was just one of those summers where everyday was planned by us or by someone else.

A first cousin of mine, once removed, just contacted me over the net about exchanging photos of our mutual ancestors.  His grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister.  He is younger than me but I did know him from a distance at reunions in Macksburg, Iowa.  This guy sent me a family tree that goes back to the 1700's with my great grandfather six times back being born on a boat on his way to the USA from England.  Last name was Wheeler.  That is our connection.

His mother and father lost a lot of their old photos in a house fire years ago so I can help them out in replacing some of them but his Grandparents had some others that I had never seen before.   I never knew my Grandmother Brooks to have a lot of hair and it was long and wavy.  It will be an interesting ride to see what comes from the shared interests with my new friend cousin.

I do a Sepia Saturday blog and will share some of them there, but I may just give you a taste of what  he sent me from the 1942 as the relatives recline in the front yard of my Grandmothers house in Murray, Iowa.

 

 This is a gem of a photo with my oldest brother Ron sitting in the front yard with a cousin, once removed, who lives in Arizona today. I love all the poses of people resting in the yard after a big meal.

Thanks for stopping by......

Dink's Taxi Restaurant.........

I have shared a similar visual of this place in Bar Harbor, but I am returning now to show some closeups. I would have loved helping put this pieced decorated portico on this building.  Brackets and mouldings are cool and I like working with them.  Notice the starburst decoration above inside  the triangle of the pediment.

Some people just have porch ceilings but this thing reminds me of an old movie house with the lights and the painted sky scene.

The whole car body is not up there. I didn't really know until I saw this photo.  Cool brackets and the small column made from a halved porch railing was effective.

The windows makes me believe it was a church but I can't figure out how all these building got built around it in such close spaces. Buildings butted up to it within six feet or less on two sides and the door to the building was down an alley between two buildings.

More brackets, mouldings on the fascia and a cool entry door. The moulding and brackets had special painted effects on each piece.

We did not go inside but that gives us an excuse to go back one more time, maybe next year.   We did eat at one restaurant that our son later told us was considered to have bad food.  I guess that is why we got in so easily, but the meal was great for us.  Stuffed fish filets with crab dressing and cheese sauce.

As the cool weather is setting in around us I am going to be more rushed to get my outside work done.  I need to work on my own house on the outside and hope that some warm days come back.  We bought the kitchen flooring material today for the parents house and will try to get that done this week. I hope all of you are doing well and everyone is safe and warm.  Those in the far south I guess do not have to worry about that.   Take care and thanks for stopping by..........

Sunday's show............

The Easter egg plant is really just a small variety of eggplant that changes color to yellow rather than to purple.  It is doing well and I will have to bring it in to see how well it will do as a house plant.

Remembering the days we were invaded by Monarchs.  This is a different view of them.  We had strays going through all the next week. Our cold and windy days with rain may slow any stragglers.

Thanks for stopping by.......

Vacation memory.........

Atlantic coastline, northern Maine.

Friday's findings.............

My blue boy is surviving out there on the corner of my property.  He is a little upset with me with the stray grass growing up around him.

One last coneflower. It bloomed a couple of days ago and is very late as all of the others are now gone.

The rhubarb is reviving one more time.  You can see the fallen pear from the tree nearby. The pears were bad but plentiful.  The bees and butterflies are enjoying the rotting fruit.

Worked on the house yesterday and will be back at work at home on framing.  I am not looking forward to the cooler weather that comes at this time of the year.  The earth has started to tilt and we are having shorter days.  The hurricane threats seem to always mess up our weather also.  We were cloudy most of the day with lots of moisture in the air.

Thanks for stopping by...........

Trumpets.......

I had pink morning glories blooming earlier, but I had planted blue seed that a student had given me years ago, and it apparently grew.

The petunia is sort of a trumpet shape.  I love the colors that come out of this particular variety.

More petunias that are hanging off the side of the pot. If I showed you the whole picture you would say they were drunk.

The red is such a striking color in the fall. They are doing so well with the cooler weather.

The gourd plant does not have a trumpet flower but it wants to belong.  I planted this a long time ago and it just now is starting to bloom. The gourds will never become much in size and I might get some little ones.

I worked on framing again today and will be returning to buy more molding as I ran out of material.  The framing business is thriving right now as I put up a sign saying that we are closing on October 1st.  I will explain why we are closing in the future.

Thanks for stopping by........

Show and tell about Tuesday's going on and on..............

I ventured outside today and took 81 photos.  I hadn't been out for a while as things are dead or are going to be.  I haven't plagued you with my many zinnia flowers much this season, but be warned I have taken many macros of this flower bed.
The plants didn't do as well this year as I didn't have them planted in thick enough.  The thicker the row the less the plants will fall down in a wind or a heavy rain.

I have been procrastinating on getting back to framing.  This morning I started stretching two of these pieces  for the first phase.  They will lay there for awhile and then I will return and straighten the edges to perfection. My wife helps with this when it gets to the refinement part of the stretching.

The vegetable garden has  not been a great experience for me this year and I am not sure that I will even plant a single tomato next year.  Spring may change my mind but the harvest has been moderate with all the rain and the tomatoes didn't last long enough to be picked.  Most of them split open before they started to ripen.  This banana plant has put out about 4 peppers.  It is the sweet variety and not a hot pepper.

It may not look like it but this is a view of my cleaned out garden shed.  I can walk in there now and it is a pleasure to see that I threw away and sold out things so it is almost organized.  I thought I would give you a look at all my junk cause I know you all are a little snoopy and want to see in there.  The drum is an antique that I rescued from the school garbage heap.  The kiln is my dream machine that will get me back on the potter's wheel........ someday. The antique table has walnut legs elsewhere, the skull if from my teaching days and the windmill blades were my dad's making a long time ago.  I need to repair them and get them back on the windmill.

The plastic kids bucket has a story,  just like everyone has a story.   I found the bucket rolling around in the wind away from houses behind the school.  I rescued it and used it for my aquarium jobs in my art classroom to transport water.  One day a science kid came and borrowed it and I hadn't seen it for a few years.  The science teacher left her job and while I was out  placing things in the dumpster, there it was.  She had borrowed my bucket then threw it away. I rescued it again.  It is a child's sand bucket and has a star mold in the bottom so a kid could make towers with stars on top of them. There, I bet that Everyone Has a Story just  brought tears to your eyes.

It was nice to get outside today as we have been either working too hard or it has been raining.  I am going to close with a final picture of who still lives outside our front door and in our yard.

I can be around her just inches away and she does not run anymore, but a hand coming her way is still very scary.  She is quite a friend in the garden and she must be tamed before winter.

Thanks for stopping by.........

Looking........

Looking out.........

Looking through.........

Looking over...........

Just looking............

I have noticed that we all are blogging out.  I know it is a busy time of the year and I know that I keep on posting but I am even boring to myself.  I use to write a lot more and then I over extended myself.  Winter is my season though as I can really enjoy the time with my blog friends.   But winter can be a long depressing time for Iowans and many of you too.

I have been facing life's realities so much lately and I guess I am beyond being sad.  Our neighbor died a couple of days ago from a long bout with Parkinson Disease. It took his life as if he were having cancer and Lou Gehrig's.  Roy was my age and it all started years ago when he fell off of a ladder at the fire station.

While we were in Maine, one of my church friends with whom I share a class became ill.  The week he substituted for me, teaching the class, his leg was swollen. He had to sit and teach with his leg up on a chair. He is 55.  When we returned to Iowa he was already in the hospital and now he is diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. It is too rapid for a person's emotions to even carry.
 
I have blogger friends who have spouse's who suffer from disease. I have blogger friends who have lost loved ones the past week and I have others who are dealing with ailing parents.

I find that it all has become a large burden of hurt of what has happened and what is yet to happen. I know loss from many very personal experiences as everyone else has out there.  I guess I have to take a deep breath and rest.  Life is full of change and full of uncertainty.  I do know Truth and I know Hope.  It does not prevent me from feeling sad.  Tomorrow is another day and I will move on facing those things that I don't understand and yet know are realities of life. 

Thank you for being out there and stopping by for a moment.  I know you are all busy and all have lives to live too.  Take care...........