Autumn Is Just Around the Corner!

Yes, as hard as it is to realize, summer is nearly over and fall colors are already appearing just a little here and there in the landscape! The tree that provides afternoon shade for our house is yellowing and has lots of leaves falling already! That's why I decided to change the look of our blog to the autumn leaves. However, I still plan to enjoy the last remaining days of summer!
Last evening, we enjoyed a very fine meal at the Nauvoo Hotel with about 55 other "Schulte" family members. Not all of the names present were Schultes, but everyone there was of the Schulte family, and we had a really nice time. Dennis enjoyed visiting with cousins he'd not seen in quite a while, which was really fun for him. Zach and Wyatt came here to spend the night with us afterward, so on our way through Keokuk, we stopped in to hear some "blues music" at the Rollin' On the River Festival. We caught them between sets, so had to wait about 20 minutes for the next group to set up, and since it was so late we stayed only long enough to hear two songs, but it was enough to let the boys hear how "blues" music sounds. We learned that Zach doesn't like to hear cymbals. He says, "I hate the sound of cymbals, it sounds like scratching a chalkboard". Seems a funny thing to say, especially from him. He enjoys most forms of music, but now we know....NO cymbals!
Here are some of the pictures from our reunion.

Better Later Than Not At All!

When I typed that title, I was actually thinking that it's better to post news late than not at all, but in this case, it might also be a fitting description of our news. To make a fairly short story even shorter, earlier this week we received a phone call from Brandon saying that he and his family were in town, and would like to come out and visit a little. Wow! What a nice surprise! We did get together on Tuesday afternoon. Dennis and I had not seen Brandon in maybe 16 years! Brandon was a very close friend of Travis' when they were teens, and Brandon spent considerable time at our house back then. We got to meet Brandon's wife, Shellie, and their eight month old twin daughters, Annie and Izzie! Wouldn't you have thought that I would have had my camera out and taking pictures? I guess just the excitement of company addled my brains. Thankfully, Brandon and Shellie had a camera and allowed me to take a couple pictures with it! So, here are the pictures. The four adults are Gail and Travis with Brandon and Shellie. The other one really needs no explanation, except to say that Izzie is on the left, in front of her Daddy, and Annie is at right, in front of her Mommy. The girls are adorable!

Skies Seem to Be Clouding Up This Afternoon!

So, it's unlikely that we'll get to observe the best night of the meteor showers here. It might clear off again, but according to the weather channel, we have a chance of thunderstorms late tonight. We'd planned on watching meteor showers, away from the bat!
Last night, around 1:30 AM, I went out on our east side deck to watch for the meteor showers, and a bat kept swooping right in front of my face. Over and over he just kept flying at me, so close I felt his wings touch my face! Well...that was enough to send me back to bed! I like bats, but this thing just would not leave me alone, so I started thinking: "I wonder if this bat might be rabid" Then I started getting nervous about his swooping at me, so I gave up and went in. We had planned to go farther out tonight, and sit in the back of the truck to watch, but I don't think we'll see anything since the clouds are rolling in.
Not much else has been going on around here worth telling. Dennis raced again last night at Memphis, and won. Bobbie, Mom and I went to the Dutchman Store Thursday and I bought some peaches. They're delicious! I've put a lot of them in the freezer, and still have a few to eat fresh.
Since there's not much to write, and I have no new pictures to put on here, I'm going to put in a list of some "Amazingly Simple Home Remedies". Thanks to Heidi for sharing them with me! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Amazingly Simple Home Remedies

1. If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat and presto, the blockage will be almost instantly removed.

2. Clumsy? Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

3. You can avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat just by using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: Simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use an egg timer.

5. A mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives. Then you will be afraid to cough.

7. Have a bad toothache? Smash your thumb with a hammer and you will forget all about the tooth ache.

8. Sometimes, we just need to remember what the rules of life really are: In life, you only need two tools - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move but should, use the WD-40. If it should not move and does, use the duct tape.

9. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

10. Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom.

For Lack of Anything More Interesting....

It's been a while since my last post, but not much going on worth posting. Monday we (Mom, Bobbie and me) went to Milan to see Valerie and Shane's new home. It's a really, really nice place! Very nice house, nice big yard, perfect location...almost rural, and just minutes from her work and some nice shopping and eating places. We've decided that we'll be doing our shopping trips to Milan instead of Coralville from now on.
Dennis raced at Memphis for the first time this season. It was the Ed Sheckler Memorial event, and Dennis won his feature. I didn't go, but "borrowed" a picture from this website. www.heartlandmotorsports.com
The picture is Dennis with Ed's widow, Chris. He's planning to be there again this weekend, and if he goes, I might go this time.
That's about all there is to tell for this post. School resumes August 22, and I wouldn't mind putting that off for another month!

What A Wednesday!

Here it is...finally! We returned from Wisconsin this afternoon, and had not been home long when we learned that Mom, Dad, and Bobbie were in the process of freezing corn. We could hardly believe that they started without us!

We had planned to do it tomorrow, but since they were working on that, we went over to help in what ever way we could. Dad had picked 50 dozen ears, and they'd already done most of the work. We got in only on the last 20 dozen. We just got home and Mom was still cooking when we left. We're planning to go at it again tomorrow.
Anyway, that's the very latest. We left Saturday morning for a few days at Camp Forest Springs in northern Wisconsin. We had a wonderful time. The main reason for going was to celebrate the retirement of Karla, who has served there as missionary staff for 45 years! It was a really nice celebration, somewhat emotional at times, but lots of fun and laughter as well. Since we were there for Karla's retirement "party", we stayed to visit for a few days. While there we enjoyed catching up with friends we'd not seen in a long time. We also enjoyed many of the activities at camp as guests. Dennis played tennis, volleyball, and stayed busy with lots of strenuous activities, while I mainly stayed near the waterfront, floating on a tube or swimming.
Here are just a few more pictures:

Putting a Gazebo on the Deck!

I am so excited! We now have a little "gazebo" installed on our deck! The deck is on the west side of the house, and it's too hot to enjoy it during the day, and the mosquitoes eat us up in the evening. Now we have shade and mosquito net sides for evening enjoyment!
I'd been looking for one since we came home from Don and Ada's in Colorado. Finally found one, and it came today via truck. Here you see Dennis working at tightening up all the nuts and bolts. It went together quite easily. I am sure we'll enjoy our deck much more than ever with this little addition!
Dennis still has to secure it to the deck so the wind won't blow it away. We're hoping that there will be no wind tonight, because he'll have to get some lag screws tomorrow at the Farm and Home store.
That's about the only news I have today.

Midnight Ride to Branson!

We received a call from the bunch in Branson. The car broke down, and they needed us to bring the van down to take them home, and pull their car back.

HERE'S THE UPDATE......with Pictures.

Well...we made the trip down in just under six hours. We unloaded the van and slept in it so we wouldn't disturb anyone at 2:30 AM. We were so thankful to have made it without problems. We were blessed beyond measure! Mom was the first to wake up, and we surprised her....and I DO have a photo of that surprise, however, because I am a very kind and considerate daughter, I have decided NOT to post it here. However, I will keep it in my files....just in case. We then loaded up the Oldsmobile, but unfortunately, I was so busy pushing it up onto the trailer that I didn't even get a picture. It went on much easier than I expected! We enjoyed a very fine breakfast, courtesy of the Ramada Inn, and at about 10, we were on the road for home. Just about 10 miles west of Lebanon, we had some tire trouble, but were able to pull off of the interstate to fix it. Dennis was unloading the jack, while Tyler got ready to pull the bad tire off. As soon as Dennis lifted the trailer, Tyler put the spare in place, and within an incredibly short time, it was done! Any NASCAR teams looking for a tire man might want to look at these guys!

Seventeenth Annual L-Bird Convention Weekend!

What an absolutely perfect weekend for the L-Bird convention! We've been enjoying the overhead activities since Wednesday, when several of the planes started arriving for the convention. Since we are just a short distance from the airport, much of their flying is right over our house. Still, it's much better to see it from the airport. We went over this morning for the pancake breakfast. We picked Jake up on our way and Travis met us there on his way home from work. There was already quite a crowd for pancakes at 7:30 AM. Also going on this weekend is the Bluegrass Festival in Montrose, and Hot Air Balloons at Ft. Madison. I'm hoping to go over for at least some of the Bluegrass show later today. Tomorrow is Jake's birthday. He'll be 16, and will be home for good August 3. He told us today that he's applied for work at a few local businesses, and already has his car (1999 Mustang-black), so he really needs a job! He will be getting his driver's license as soon as he gets home in August, and then watch out! Actually, he is a careful and cautious driver, may it continue to be so!
Dennis is busy today attacking the weeds using chemical warfare! He's pulling our tank sprayer around with a tank full of GlyStar and spraying the driveway, parking areas and around the buildings. When we were away last week, the grass nearly covered all our gravel. It seems that even when nothing else will grow, the weeds thrive! It's a constant battle!
Since I have no more to say, I'll put just a few more pictures of the colorful planes on here and get outside. It's a cool 59 degrees...or was when I started this post. Anyway, I'll go out and do my work while it's cool!

Twenty-five Hundred Miles-Pure Perfection!

Well....in truth, it was NOT a perfect trip. We did make a wrong turn or two, but other than that, it could not have been better! The boys were great travelers, and I believe everyone had a wonderful time. We can't thank Don and Ada enough for their generosity. We enjoyed every bit of the time we were there. One of the highlights was the train trip from Durango to Silverton! What a ride! (THANK YOU DON!) It was beautifully scenic, and there were several places that were downright frightening! The train runs along the side of some cliffs overlooking the Animas River, and it literally made my legs turn to rubber when I looked out. If I'd dropped anything out the window it would have fallen straight down into the river hundreds of feet below. The pictures I took don't do it justice!
We crossed several bridges, and on the one pictured, the engineer blew off some excess steam. The Animas (upper portion) is a very fast moving river with a lot of big rapids. Very beautiful, but too challenging (dangerous!) for us to think about rafting on. We understand that there are folks who do, but it's not for amateurs like us!
One day, Dennis and I, along with Zach and Wyatt, rode four wheelers up the mountains. Ada encouraged us to pack a lunch, which we did, and we were very glad we did, because by the time we got to the top, we were hungry! We rode lots of the trails up there, but then it started clouding up, so we headed back down. We did get rained on just a little bit, but it didn't matter. We had a great time even getting wet. The boys thought it quite exciting!
We enjoyed seeing Cathy, and meeting Reese. She seemed to really enjoy the boys---especially Zach! They had fun playing together. Swimming in the hot tub was a lot of fun for them. They also rode bikes together, played ball, and rode the wheelers too.
We enjoyed the opportunity to attend church with Don and Ada, and left right after the service. We were heading to Kiowa for a visit with the Pickerings. Dennis met Fred while he was serving in the Army, and when he was in the Denver hospital, Frances (Fred's mom) drove down to get him out of the hospital for visits at her home in Granby. I don't really know how she knew he was there, and why she took such an interest in him, but Dennis has never forgotten her kindness and generosity....then and still! We had a nice, although short, visit and then needed to get on down the road. We were hoping to make it home early Monday night, and we did get home around 7:30 PM.
I'm happy to say that this morning, we got nearly one inch of rain. It came hard and fast, but hopefully it didn't all run off! We're glad to have it, and there seems to be potential for more yet. It's a critical time for rain here with all the corn tasseling and making ears and we're very thankful for what fell this morning.

Sizzling-Sweltering-Steaming!

Yep! It's hot and humid! We're hoping for rain. The crops look great, but it's getting really dry, and with the corn tasseling, it's a perfect time for a good soaking rain.
Since I haven't posted since the 4th, I figured that I'd update while I'm inside cooling off! We did enjoy a very nice 4th of July celebration, and then again on the 6th we watched another great fireworks display just up the road. We enjoyed watching from Travis and Gail's house. Of course, Travis and Jake provided some excitement with their own stash of explosives. Jake nearly landed one on Dennis' backside as he was bending to pick up our "Redneck Washers" game box. It truly was accidental, but Travis and Jake certainly were tickled about it. It brought great stress and anxiety to Gail, but I remember the many "wars" that Dennis and the boys had with their fireworks, and this was tame in comparison.
On Thursday, Mike Shea came to the house to record the "SugarBabes" for the WCAZ IBD Radio Summer Contest. Zach and Wyatt and I had a cheer, and then sang the WCAZ fight song. There are six entries, and the radio audience will be voting for the best one sometime in August. You might want to call in and vote for the SugarBabes, because every person who votes will be in a drawing for a nice prize package. So, you could be a winner just for voting!
We've treated our decks with water sealer, and did Mom and Dad's on Sunday afternoon. After that, Mom and I went to the pond to watch the swimmers. Valerie and Shane were there with Trixie. Joy and Joe were there with Drew, and Drew's Aunt, Uncle and cousins. Tyler, Kathy and the boys were there also. It was a great day for being in water! And beautiful water it is!
Well....there's more I could say, but I'm cooled off now, and need to get busy. Grass is growing, so I should be out mowing!