we have some hot days coming...

ranging in the 90s today and tomorrow...

we had some very high winds move through here early yesterday morning...

it beat things up a bit but nothing too bad...

and no storm out of it...

these were tossed about, but still look ok...

there were 5 tornadoes out of that system that stayed way north or here...

with all the rain we have had, we had to water the container plants...

I am on day 3 of a pretty nasty flair, but each day, it is easing up...

I will be picking green beans on Friday...

we've got 5 baby tomatoes now, too...

and the peppers are starting to make...

day lilies are opening everywhere but here...

mine are always the last ones to open...

I need to work on the weeding after the hot is done...

except this one...

I'm leaving this one...

and I checked on the baby robins last night...

they are gone, and couldn't find any on the ground...

the nest is pretty much destroyed by the winds...

but those crazy robins build some pretty shabby homes...

DH has a birthday on Friday...

the big 6 0!

taking him out for breakfast on Saturday morning...

and then to get his driver's license renewed...

Craig will have to drive us there...

since they expire on Friday...

;0)

a closer look at what was...

just the typical little country town...

8 miles north...

a hayday in its time...

booming with excitement over a festival gathering...

still proud of the flag...

with some of the most interesting little pieces of quaint...

a farming community...

with plenty of personality...

carrying on tradition...

I hope you have little towns like this to walk through...

little towns without a Walmart or CVS...

you won't find that in aisle 4...

thankful for neighbors and family close by...

but there is character...

and spunk left in this place...

where dreams were dreamt and wishes made...

they come and they go...

off to college, the service or new jobs...

some come back...

souls drifting back and forth...

connected by a gazebo in the park...

the steeple of a church...

the cracks in the sidewalks...

all built and left by those who loved their town...

why was America so great years ago?

because the heroes were fighting for places like this...

home...

where their families and friends cheered them on...

I love these old towns around us...

and the characters in them...

have a great day...

;0)

welcome to Moo Holler...

I'll take what's behind gate #1!

just a lazy Sunday morning grazing on the grass...

I named her Matilda...

this is an interesting group of live stock...

white face cows are some of my favorites...

and there are some young bulls running around close to the heifer...

the color of this bull is amazing...

so cute and clumsy...

not sure if he's holding up the tree or the tree is holding him upright...

I so miss the days when all the farms looked like this...

but that's progress...

very few family farms anymore here...

plow it up and plant it in corn and beans is the new farmer's motto...

they have to go where the money is...

I think I might have over done it with all the goings ons around here...

well, we can officially say that I am past the partying stage of my life...

unless its done in the er with plenty of pain killers...

picnic, parade and festival and yard work do not mix...

combine that with eating the left over navy beans and ham...

well, lets just say, its not cool to be a fartin' machine when you can't move away from it...

but, I have my can of febreeze right here...

and that's all I am saying about that...

;0)

yesterday's parade and festival...

Newman is a very small town 8 miles north of us...

even smaller than our little town of 900...

its where DH works...

and they have been having this Freedom Festival in this little town now for a few years...

along with a pretty impressive firework display on Saturday night...

which we can literally see from here...

and almost the whole town is in the parade...

really...

but we went up to see this guy...

Super C...

Kernel Korn...

Super Creepy...

King Kornholeous...

there are many names for him now...

and some I cannot put on here...

(you know how guys are)

and these dorks...

are my DH and his work buddies...

the official ADM Float...

and these are all from our town...

and there were a few more, too...

then it was time to head up town...

(after we picked up the old guy from the elevator)

there are marvelous old buildings, beautiful street lights and some really friendly people up there...

and...

they kept throwing candy at me...

just put an old lady in a wheel chair on a street corner and see how much they throw!

I am not sure if I am getting any of it...

the kids are wiping me out...

but it was a good day...

came home to eat, all the food places had lines miles long...

so we just headed home...

I HAVE TO PACK MY FOOD AND SNACKS WHEN WE GO NEXT TIME!

I have a schedule that I need to follow and when my blood sugar drops, I have to eat...

so, I will start taking things in the van for such times in the future so we can stay longer...

I was so disappointed in the vendors...

all home party stuff...

there were no crafts...

none...

not like the festivals were when I was setting up in them...

just wonder if I could make a killing doing that again...

didn't spend a dime there...

which is a good thing, too...

just ask the old man...

they did have an awesome, home town band playing old tunes in the gazebo in the middle of the square, though...

that was a fun thing to have there...

Craig's working today and the old one and I mowed the yard, took a drive and a nap and getting ready here to do supper...

so off I go and I will post photos tomorrow of our drive today...

from Moo Holler...

;0)

we got rain and then some, plus a picnic in it...

this is what we woke up to and its rained more since then...

we will check when we go out this morning...

we have green beans!

the dam at the town lake...

water standing on the road sides and in the fields...

not as bad here as in the areas around us...

they had all the rain we missed before and now this stuff...

bean fields look like rice fields in the low areas...

I think we have had all we need now...

flash flood warning have been issued...

milk weed is blooming...

cows in the rain...

 black angus cows...

pretty, huh?

1st base is under water...

along with the rest of the diamond...

I named him Boscoe...

and then onto the picnic at the state park just north of us...

it drizzled most of the time...

but we had a good time...

they cooked 45 rib eyes and fried chicken, too...

they had 2 big grills going...

and this fryer...

took them awhile, so we had time to walk to the water...

and visit with everyone...

there is a restaurant there and after we headed over to it...

for hot fudge sundaes...

and to watch the geese swim by...

this is the eatery and we need to get out there more often...

we got the festival to do today and DH will be in the parade...

I can see a funnel cake in our future...

the guys love them...

I hope you had your coffee with you when you sat down...

;0)