Saturday, May 28, 2011

This is what was on the side of a tractor that I saw in Sweden at the World Ploughing Matches.. I haven't looked up the website but I thought m-m-m- does this have to do with dyslexia that some people have with the way they see things or read things? It was a beautiful tractor and I thought it was fun and took a picture.. nice and shiny~!
Here's Benny,,,This is his new way of waving when taking his picture.. He is on Papa Dee Dee's John Deere 530.. He loves those tractors out there in the shed and is just content in sitting one them and pretending to drive.
Picked him up from daycare and brought him here to my house.. Dave's twin brother (Don) is here visiting from Pa.. and we are having a great time having him here.. Dave and Don fired up the John Deere A and the 530 and took them to the pasture on the trail that we have out there.. Ben rode with Pa Pa Dee on the 530 and then he changed over to ride with Uncle Don on the old A.. When he got back to the house he said Uncle Don was his favorite person.. Now that is a honor.. Long time ago Tracie told Ben that he was Her Very Favorite Person.. She asked him who his favorite person was and he said : "Gran Annie".. What a proud moment that was for me, when she told me.. For awhile his favorite person has been my friend , Holly.. Now it's Uncle Don... What a boy..
We had a lot of fun with him last night while he was here..
He has a DSI game and he has the Mario Race Kart game. He was trying to show Uncle Don how to play and it was making him dizzy. He had to stop.. Ben said "I know what it's like to be dizzy,, if I go around and around circles I get really dizzy and I have to lay down..". He said I love the merry go round but if someone makes it go really fast it's not good. I have to lay down in the grass until my head quits hurting.. Tracie took Ben home about 9 and he gave us all big hugs and kisses.. What a wonderful boy he is becoming. Very thoughtful and he loves people.. It was his last day of daycare in Central City, Iowa.. He went to ABC ~ I call these places institutions... Starting Tues. he is going to a gals house,, her name is Donna Hudson.. She takes care of children in her home. Ben has been to her place 3 times and just loves it there.. She has 3 other 4 year olds that Ben has met and he likes to play with them. She just loves Ben and is able to cope with his busyness. ABC had a hard time coping with his busyness~ he is really busy.. No sitting down when you are with Ben.. He loves it when you play with him.
He doesn't walk he runs.. Just like his mom did when she was little. We nicknamed her 'Speedy" when she was little. I know Ben will be much happier at Donna's house this summer.
Dave and Don went to Hy-Vee grocery store for breakfast this morning. I'm going to go out to my vegetable garden and get my things planted.. I finally got my big flower garden done and now I just have the small one to do.. Today it will be my vegetable garden . I have my plants bought and seeds and they are ready to go into the soil.. I heard that if one puts banana peels under the tomatoes when you plant them the tomatoes will do so much better.. So I'm going to try that and see what happens.. I'm going to leave one plant without the banana peel and see if there is really a difference.



Here is Ben with his hat that I bought him at the Copenhagen,Denmark airport.. He just loves it~! It has a ribbon attached to the horns with a small bell at the end of the ribbon. He likes to shake his head.. I told him he looks like a viking. He is such a cutey..~!


Have a great Memorial Day week-end~!~! I have my flags flying ~!

Ta ta for now...from Iowa:)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Solgarden our Bed & Breakfast~!

This is where we had our breakfast everymorning at the Bed&Breakfast in Sweden.. The choices was many and the food was delicious. You could choose from Granola Cereal to Delicious Scrambled Eggs to ham slices, cheese and frest fruit.. It was very good..






Here is Gunelle and Hokan~ the owners of the Bed & Breakfast Solgarden.. They were such a wonderful couple and so very happy. They only rent this house out in the Spring and Summer and Fall. She is a nurse in the wintertime and he is a Computer Specialist. I really miss them. We had a tiggeriffic time at their house...

















This was one area of our bedroom in Sweden at the bed and breakfast we stayed called solgarden... This room was so beautiful and so roomy and bright with light.. It was a nice place to come back to after a long day... I just loved it.. We even had our own bathroom.. what a treat~!




















This was the other side of our bedroom. I loved the twin mattresses. I'm going to have to find out what kind of mattresses we slept on ~ we slept all night and woke up well rested.. I love the picture above the bed.. Gunelle and Hokan really know how to decorate a house.. it was wonderful.








This is a picture of the back of the house.. It had three floors.. This house has 24 rooms..and each bedroom has it's own bathroom.. which was really nice.








I'm home from Sweden...






I'm home from Vadstena, Sweden..

This was one of the plowmen that competed for the U.S.A. He lives in Hampton, Iowa. His name is Gene and his wife is standing next to him.. Her name is Jane. He is competing in the Reversible Ploughing Class.. His plow broke during the competition and his plot didn't turn out very well. He came in 25th place out of 29 plowmen.. There were 29 different countries competing in the World's this year.. The wind was brisk that day and one needed a jacket. A man named Andrew from Scotland came in first place. The other plowmen from the U.S.A. Kevin Albrecht from South Dakota ~ plowed in Conventional Class and he came in 19th place out of 27 plowmen.. It was a great day~!



This young man named Harold is from Norway.. I found out that he went to America to be a foreign exchange student in 1985.. As we were talking I asked him where in America did he go to school. He said "Oh you wouldn't know where".. I said well give it a try.. He said "Akron, Ohio".. I told him m-m-m- I was born in Akron, Ohio.. What was the name of the school.. He said Green High School.. I was really excited because that is where I went to school growing up and finally graduating in 1962.. What a small world.. Our two plowmen ~ one from Hampton, Iowa and the other one from South Dakota stayed at his farm in Norway to practice plowing on his farm, before the World Ploughing Competition. He said he has a large farm in Norway and raises lots of hogs.. Pork seems to be the favorite meat used in Europe..good to be home and have a beef burger. We had a good time talking with him.. What a small world.








Little boys from Sweden are so cute. This little boy was walking around with his bib overalls and his hands in the bibs.. I took a lot of pictures of children while I was at the plowing site. Most of the boys and girls are very blond and blue eyes there.

Had a great time while in Sweden.. We stayed for 10 days there in a beautiful Bed and Breakfast.. Gunelle and her husband Hokan.. The H is silent.. They were a wonderful couple and the breakfast we had every morning was wonderful.. We stayed in a large room that had a king size bed.. It had two twin mattresses on the bed and it was comfortable. That is how they sleep there/husband and wife.. They think that husband and wife sleep better sleeping side by side on twin mattresses.. I know Dave and I slept really well and I would love to do this to our bed.

I took over 900 pictures , I'll pick out some for awhile and post them...

It's good to be home but I do miss being in Sweden.. We had such a great time...

Have a Tiggeriffic Day! ta ta for now from Iowa...:)







Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Getting ready to go to Sweden...

My mind is just so busy with all the thoughts that are running through with what I need to get done to get Dave and I packed and ready to go to Sweden.. Suitcases have been laid out and as each day has passed putting things like clothes, camera, raincoats, boots ect. in the suitcases.. Now it's crunch time and I'm doing the final washing of clothes and making sure I have everything. Then I'll get it on the scales here at the house and make sure it's not over 50 pounds. WE are going to the World Ploughing Matches that are being held in Stadavatan, Sweden.. We fly out Friday, at 4:30 p.m. and arrive in Stockholm at 7:30 a.m. We will be taking the train from Stockholm to Mjolby, Sweden.. 2 1/2 hour ride.. I can hardly wait, sit in the train and watch the country go by the window.. My camera is ready~! Then the fun begins.. We will be there for 10 days... It's going to be fun to be in another country. I hear it's beautiful there.. Probably ~ maybe be the last time we get to go to one of these in along time..Each time we have gone (this is our 5th world ploughing event) we have many memories of all the people we have met from every country plus all the memories of what we got to see while we were there.. So far we have gone to Ireland twice,, Canada, Czech Republic and Austria.. Next year it's going to be in Croatia...I not sure even where that country is but I think it would be interesting to go and see. There are 28 countries that come to the world ploughing matches and there are 2 competitors from each country.. The two competitors that will be competing from the USA are from South Dakota and Iowa.. We are very proud of our men that are going to represent us. I'm looking to have a great time.
Yesterday I worked as a Official Poll Worker in Springville.. We had two ballots, one for Linn County and one for the city of Springville.. We were voting on 1% sales tax.. Springville voted yes and not sure for the county.. Low turn out voters..only 278... I worked from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. I was very tired when I got home and this morning after a good nights rest I feel good..
I like working at the voting polls, it's fun to see all the people that I know and I get to meet all the people I don't know.. Yes, its a long day but don't know if any of you know this , you do get paid for doing this and the extra money is nice. Since I'm retired and not working ~ this can fit into my daily life.. I love being retired..
I'm going to quickly get things wrapped up here , because Ben gets out of pre-school today at 11. I'm going to go to Tracie's house to see him and play with him.. I'm going to miss him so much. Grandchildren are a gift from God and I'm so blessed.
My bird feeders are busy with all colors of birds this morning. My orioles are so brilliant orange ~ it's so cool to see that color flash across the yard to the grape jelly I have set out for them. Hummers are busy this morning, glad to see they are back.. I have the young boy that lives near here that Dave hired to mow our grass while we are gone to feed my birds.. Cole is 15 and is so respoonsible. His parents have taught him work ethics . Cole is a fine young man.
Have some books to read while I'm traveling.. Richard Peck's books : A year down yonder and A Long Way from Chicago.. I was reading A year down younder yesterday while working at the polls and it's really good.. The other book I have is: Escape to God written by Jim Hohnberger. This book will be a spiritual awakening that will inspire and challege me. Get out of the boat and walk on water. Of course I'm taking my bible.
If you don't hear from me you'll know I'm thinking of you all and I'm going to be away from this computer. Maybe while I'm in Sweden I'll be able to write a short post. Have a Tiggeriiffic Day~!~! ta ta for now from Iowa:)

Monday, May 02, 2011

Monday morning~ sunny~no wind~45 degrees~!

It's Monday morning and it's bright and beautiful outside.. This morning at 7 a.m. I had a Baltimore Oriole visit my window.. Took the screen off the one window in my bedroom this winter and this morning I woke to a tap tap tap on the window.. I looked and it was the Oriole telling me he was back and he needed some Grape Jelly.. He was so bright orange and I was all excited.. I got dressed quickly and rushed downstairs and right out the door to the shed to get my oriole feeder..went into the house and got it washed up and cleaned.. I put gobs of Grape Jelly on the feeder and then I had one last orange in the fridge and I split it in two.. took it outside and there he was "Mr.Oriole" whistling at me.. He followed me out to the place where I had the feeder hanging last year..He hardly waited for me to put the feeder on the shephard's hook ~ he almost landed on my hand trying to get to the food.. I was breathless~ with excitement.. Have never gotten that close to one of these colorful birds before.. These are the times I wish I had a camera mounted on my head and take pictures.. Came back into the house and got the other feeder ready for him and it's now hanging out by my garden I can see it from where I'm sitting here.. I have two male orioles and I look to have more because last spring they had 2 batches of baby birds. Got my hummingbird feeders out also and I will be complete with the birds that come here every year. So far no sightings of hummers.. I love those little guys... so fun to watch.. My biggest joy would be to find a nest of those tiny birds.. THe nest is about the size of a thimble.. so it would be hard to see..
This morning besides the excitement of the Orioles,, I am washing clothes and getting my things packed to go to Sweden on Friday afternoon.. I'm ready~! WIth all this spring excitement of my birds I'm really hesitent on leaving the house.. But I'm sure all these birds will be here when I return.. The temperature and weather in Sweden is just like here.. Early spring,, temp's in the 50's. sunny days with rain periodically. It feels so good to have the sun here for 2 whole days now.. Brightens things up and cheers one's soul.. I'll be so glad to be on the plane...on Friday.. Everything packed and if one forgot something ~ oh well> too bad.. I have my camera, and my gps packed.. Going to see if I can find a cache while I am in Sweden.. Geocaching is all over the world...
At 3p.m. I'll go to Central City and pick up Ben from daycare.. I'm going to miss him like crazy.. HE stopped by yesterday with his dad.. The camper that belongs to Cory was behind our shed. He came to pick it up.. Ben told me "Daddy and I are going to clean up the camper and were going camping in two weeks.. " I thought that was wonderful... It's one of those fold out campers and it's going to be needing a lot of scrubbing and freshing up because it hasnt been used in a couple years.. Hope it's not too infested with mice... Dog gone ~ mice can be so distructive. I'm sure Cory and his Mom and Ben will be busy getting it ready... Ben could hardly wait for Cory to get it hitched to the big red truck... It had two flat tires and while Cory got air in them Dave took Ben on a ride with the John Deere A... He let Ben drive it ~! Ben thought he was big stuff getting to drive it around the field in the back of the house... There is 20 acres behind the house for them to drive that tractor all over the place.. Ben had lots of fun~! His grin was from ear to ear...~! When he saw the trailer connected to the truck Ben was ready to leave. So Dave and Ben parked the John Deere inside the shed and he was off and running to the truck.. HE was ready to go with Cory to get it home. It was fun to see him for a little bit~! He loves camping , and I'm sure this summer Cory will teach him how to fish..
News was good to hear this morning as Osuma Bin Laden was killed a week ago , but just reported last night.. Lots of celebrating...and rightfully so...
Lots to do today~! Best get busy.. Have a great and tiggeriffic day~! It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood~! ta ta for now from Iowa~:)

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Today is Sunday and almost time to get dressed for church.. As I sit this morning and watch the news of the tornadoes that hit the South I think of all the people that are affected. Thousands>>>I try and imagine how big it must of been that huge funnel.. A mile wide and 5 miles of distruction. Just part of a house was not taken, but the whole house and huge trees nothing left but a stick in the air to show where it once stood. A huge tradgedy.. Lots to pray about this morning.. But there is a lot to be thankful for..one lady said that she is so thankful for all the help she has received from volunteers. Her whole family is alive and they are together again in a shelter that has been provided for them. I'm sure there will be miracle stories come from all this, as one boy, he looked to be 5 years old, said this morning 'He thought God was with him and his family through out the storm. Where something goes wrong like this storm something good will prevail.. So I'm thankful this morning that we have a God to lean on when something like this happens. He is my stronghold and I feel his love everyday.
Must get ready for church,,You all have a blessed day~! ta ta for now from Iowa:)