Love/Hate Relationships

Iowa white-tail deer. Aren't they beautiful? I love to watch them while biking on the Bettendorf bike trail, but I hated their intrusion on my acre yard in Blue Grass as they nightly nibbled on 50 or more delicious hosta plants. Hunter loved to see them cross his path in the woods while he was bow hunting yet he really hated to kill them, although our children were raised on their meat.

Following is a video of another animal love/hate relationship. Ruthie, Rebecca's pet yorkshire terrier, "loves" Christian when he is in his jumper or high chair dropping Cheerios or other yummy morsels. On the other side of the coin, she (Ruthie) hates Christian when he trys to play with her, which amounts to grabbing handfuls of doggie hair. See what I mean!

July 4th

July 4th is about fun and enjoying our freedoms. We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to do as we like, go where we want, worship God and His Son, Jesus Christ, where we are drawn. Yesterday, Hunter and I got on the motorcycle and went for a muddy hike in Loud Thunder Forest Preserve then hosted a father and his three children for an evening meal of brats and beans. What "freedoms" did you enoy on the 4th?

What's a mulberry?

Hunter and I have begun the routine of exploring our "yard" by hiking either early morning or evening. Our current location, at a campground in Rock Island, is surrounded on three sides by bodies of water, off shoots of the Mississippi and small roads leading to other seasonal camper spots. One evening, while on our trek, I noticed trees loaded with small dark berries. My "walking encyclopedia" husband immediately identified them as mulberries. That night we picked and ate our fill from several trees. Being an incessant baker I wondered about the possibility of harvesting those berries for a pie.
The following day I did some internet investigation and learned that this fruit was not really a berry but a collective fruit and only resembled a blackberry in appearance. The trees in Rock Island are white mulberry trees, rather than black ones. I only know this because they produce their fruit in spring instead of summer or early fall. Even though they bear the name "white" they can produce white, lavender, or black fruit. Locally the trees bear black fruit, which stains your fingers immediately! Since I learned they were suitable for pies, the following evening we gathered a plastic table cloth and set out to harvest dessert. It was fun to shake the branches and watch the fruit fall into piles on the red-checkered cloth. We are talking here about wild fruit, therefore along with the sweet morsels we got a variety of dried leaves, sticks, bugs, and tiny worms. When we returned to our RV we soaked our treasure in a large bowl of cold water hoping the little "critters" would swim to the surface while the berries sank. That didn't work exactly as planned. It took me quite a while to carefully examine the "berries" on the kitchen counter to feel relatively sure they were bug and worm "free".
Today I made the pie and it was truly delicious. I almost feel akin to Daniel Boone's wife! I even baked the pie in my "outdoor" oven!(Check out the picture below.)
Hunter just came back from a little fly fishing in the "backyard" and he said he spotted an elderberry bush. Another pie possibility? I'll let you know.

Thank-you!

The report is in and it is good news. For those "readers" who did not know, I was diagnosed several weeks ago with a spot on my right lung after a CT scan for my stomach. (I have had minor stomach problems for years-probably chronic gastritis.)
Because of the many "possible causes" of a lung spot, including cancer or sarcoidosis of which my Dad died, my doctor recommended a pet scan, which I had this week. This morning I went in for the results. While waiting to see the doctor I pulled out my Bible, which I routinely carry to read during various periods of waiting. Currently I am going through the Psalms. I had left off at Psalms 30. Here are some of the verses in that Psalm, which I read in the office: "O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me." "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." After reading this Psalm I knew that Dr. Gross would tell me all was OK. I will just return in 6 months for another scan to be sure the spot doesn't grow and then again in two years. I asked him the cause and he said he wasn't sure but it could be a fungus which had calcified. He said he finds those often in people who have lived a long time in the midwest. I guess when we say there is "somthing in the air" here we aren't kidding! Anyway, I am praising God and want to thank family and friends who have prayed for me. Now I can get on with the work at hand, which is sorting stuff! From the pictures below you will see the job ahead of me. But I am learning that stuff is not important. What really matters in life is people relationships. They last for eternity!!

Take the tour

We are finally getting a bit settled into our new home. While Hunter is busy washing the bugs off the gigantic front window and scaling the sides of the RV in order to clean the air conditioners filled with floating cottonwood seeds, I am taking a break from baking bread in my "outside" oven to give you a tour of the inside of our home. But first take a look at my cute grandson in motion!

P.S. Bedrrom does NOT have two rr but it did get your attention-right? Ha!

From turtles to tornadoes

We just completed three days "on the road" driving from North Carolina to Rock Island, Illinois. Driving into our first night's KOA we had to stop our 41,000 pound vehicle in order to rescue a box turtle meandering down the road. Even though I am NOT fond of picking up nature's "wild" creatures I was designated as the rescuer. Gingerly I grabbed him around his middle and quickly set him by the road's edge. He was more than happy to waddle swiftly away from the diesel "monster".
The KOA campsite was a quiet respite from the interstate travel. The next two days flew quickly and uneventfully blew us into the Quad Cities. It was here that we encountered our first storm. Where do you go when the tornado alarm begins to blare in your area and the local TV station warns everyone in "the following counties" to head for the basement, and you have no basement? Casting glances at each other we sat in bed, watched the broadcast, listened to the wind and pelting rain and determined that was the best we could do at the moment. Of course, our quiet moments were filled with prayer! We did go out the following morning and buy a weather radio so at least we would be informed in order to have time to put our seatbelts on if ever a tornado decides to "move" our RV.
In two days we open our storage unit to discover treasures I packed a year ago and make decisions about "what goes where". Heads up to all our children-get ready to receive stuff!!!

Lift-off!

June 6th we finally took possession of our new home. What fun, mixed with some frustration, we have had in our first few days living in an RV. Thankfully, we camped only 12 miles from the Carolina Coach dealership since we discovered our GPS tracking system did not function properly. It was "voice-less". Now we cheerfully listen as a "sexy" female voice we've nicknamed Greta (after Greta Garbo) navigates us down the road. Last night we camped in Kentucky, with its green studded Appalacian Mountains. At 6:00 a.m. this morning we took a brisk walk and discovered a trail to follow winding down to a mist covered lake. "Oh, for a fly rod." my dear husband sighed. When we arrive in the Quad Cities we will have our storage unit emptied and Hunter will have his fly rod and various and sundry other items. The problem being where will we put everything?? Another "adventure". Ha!