Surprise!

So, I got off nights this morning and mowed the lawn, then plopped on the couch for a nap. Around 2:00P.M. I heard the doorbell ring. I was sleepy and kind of out of it but got up and answered the door. It happened to be someone who was working on re-paving Hwy 7. He asked me if he could park a piece of equipment in Hope and my driveway for the night. I said, "uh, sure". Little did I know I was going to be the parking lot for the whole company!

Today's Harvest

Here's are some photos of today's harvest. We're getting lots of sugar snap peas and green beans. We should also have zucchini and summer squash later this week. The squash plants are in great shape. Here are the dogs posing beside them (for perspective). I would have used Brian, but he was working. The dogs were happy to help out.On a slightly sadder note, a swarm of baby grasshoppers seems to have taking refuge in my garden. The are thousands and thousands of them. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do about them, but thankfully they aren't attacking everything. Mostly just some of the lettuce and the leaf herbs. I think I may put the herbs in pots and have them live on our deck instead of the garden. Here's the lettuce looking like swiss cheese.And finally, here is my first tomatillo.

The end.

Bad Weather

Here's the storm cloud that I raced into town this morning. I would have beat it if I hadn't stopped to take a few photos. I told the dogs to hide in the basement if there was a tornado before walking out the door. There's scary weather here in Iowa.

Sunrise...

Brian leaves really (really) early for work. When I was sending him out the door this morning, I noticed there was a very pretty sunrise. Could resist taking a photo and posting it. Now its back to bed...

Strawberry Harvest

Yesterday we harvested strawberries from the garden. (Notice my new bowl that I found while antiquing with my mom a few weeks ago- I actually found the whole set.)And made strawberry shortcake (with baking powder biscuits, of course). Yum!

Date Night

On Friday night Brian took me to a new restaurant a few towns over called the Otho Pub. Its just a hole-in-the-wall place, but its specialty is stuffed hash browns. They take hash browns and stuff them with mozzarella cheese, onions, and peppers. The place was pretty dark, but here are some photos showing Brian enjoying the speciality. The portions were huge...this was the first time that I've ever heard Brian ask for a doggie bag.

Something special from Galena...

My sister-in-law Jennifer asked if I bought anything special in Galena. To answer her..."Why yes, Jennifer, I did! We found the an original Parcheesi Board- just like the one my Grandma Ouillette has (the one I grew up playing)! I was VERY excited! Parcheesi is the greatest board game ever created."