Our 2011 - Yard Work

After mowing, the first thing that needed to be done to our six plus acres of land was the removal of junk from inside the shed and beside it.

We discovered hundreds of what the exterminator called “Burrowing Wasps” in the dirt floor of our shed. Their holes are the size of my index finger. Surprisingly, these wasps don’t sting when you disturb them. The exterminator said to put two inches of gravel on the floor of the shed to prevent the wasps from returning.

We wanted to make a pad for the RV and add gravel to the driveway so we ordered about 50 tons of gravel. We also needed dirt to cover the paths the kids made in the yard with their bikes, cars and four wheelers. Terry borrowed my brother Jim’s tractor to move all this soil and gravel around.

My brother Clare has operated Hoven’s Lawn Care for about 30 years. We were glad to have him come to sow the grass seed.

The western side of the property has about 20 oak and walnut trees that my former father-in-law planted in the late 60’s or early 70’s. The hibiscus is a perennial that grew huge red flowers.

Last fall I planted tulips along the western edge of the driveway and put blocks along the edge so the grandchildren wouldn’t drive over the tulip bed. Because we have planted grass seed along this area, my tulip bed will now be on the eastern edge of the driveway.


From the front door, you can see the sun rise. From the patio you can see rabbits and sometimes deer. From the highway you can see that we have plenty of room for friends and family to park their cars. We even have space for an RV if you want to visit us but call first because we might have gone RVing.

Our 2011 Housework

The painting and application of sheet rock “mud” is finished. Yeah! The pounds of plaster that Terry applied to the walls and then sanded off caused volcano like dust covering everything.

The library/spare bedroom (which doesn’t have all my books in it yet) was the most improved. Purple and yellow/green paint was pulled off the walls, patched and painted a creamy pale yellow. I refinished the woodwork and the carpet was replaced.

Terry thinks that his study with its holes in the walls and new doors is the most improved.

The ceiling in the bathrooms had large places from the old skylights that needed plastering and painting. Since I pulled the old wallpaper off the bathrooms, they needed fixed.

Maybe the living room with the sheet rock replaced under the leaking window and its new carpet is the most improved. (We have a new window but haven’t replaced it yet.)

Since the laundry needed the appliances replaced and Terry’s research said that the front-loading washer was the most efficient, I asked for the appliances to be put on pedestals.

The kitchen, dining room, and master bedroom didn’t need anything done except for cleaning and touch up painting.

What do you think was the most improved? The yard work was another project. I have enough photos of it for another blog.

Iowa State Fair

Temperatures in the low 80’s brought record crowds to the Iowa State Fair. We headed up the hill to the area of alternative energy tents and buildings but were disappointed in that we didn’t learn anything new.

This year honored 100 years of a sculpturing a life-sized cow made of BUTTER. The bright lights on the glass refrigerated cases made it difficult to photograph the sculptures but I took pictures anyway. I was more impressed with the early 1900’s cow, calf, milkmaid and farmer life sized creation that was on a revolving stage than I was with the recreation of the first cow. About 100 fancy small sculptures made of plaster were located throughout the fairgrounds; the most unusual that I saw was entitled “ Pirates of the Cowibbean.” We walked through a barn with real live Holsteins but I didn’t get any good photos.

We saw many old time exhibits including Terry with a Case tractor. You could buy almost any food on a stick including my favorite- a thick Iowa Pork Chop on a stick.

My favorite part of the fair is the contest of “The Talent Sprouts.” Kids from 2 to 12 compete locally in dancing, singing, playing instruments, baton twirling and acrobatics before they come to the fair. Everyday there is another competition. On the final day of the fair, the top contestants perform again for thousands of dollars worth of prizes.

July in Iowa

My granddaughter, Jamie Delacruz of Texas, gave birth to a 3 lb. 1 oz. son Alex on July 5. If you think that’s small, my niece gave birth to triplet girls on July 12 who ranged from 1 lb. 8 oz to 2 lbs. All the babies are doing well. I hope to see Alex when we go to Texas next winter and the triplets when they get home in August or September.

We didn’t see the THOUSANDS of bikers who participated in the 39th RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) even though we went to Altoona later in the day. We did see a few bikers and some buses but didn’t have our cameras. Lance Armstrong rode on Tuesday. My sister Joy rode on Wednesday and Friday of the race. My nephew, Jon Klein came from Kentucky to ride and dipped his bike into the Mississippi River, which is the traditional ending of the weeklong event.

We did go to the National balloon Festival in Indianola on Saturday night and sat in the park across from the church. The balloons are launched from the campus of Simpson College, which are just below the church grounds. The panda was air born but didn’t get over the church steeple while the eagle appeared to be tethered. However when we got home we saw this pile of . . . ah “dirt” in our yard that wasn’t there when we left. Terry said that the eagle wasn’t responsible for it.

Iowa Tractors

I heard on the radio that there was going to be a tractor celebration in a nearby town. I asked Terry if we could go to see what it was all about but he said there was too much work to do in the house and yard.

We didn’t need to go anywhere. Yes, that’s our house behind the parade of orange, red, tan, silver and green tractors. They drove past the house for three hours, in groups of a couple of hundred or so. The largest number that I saw was #732.

Most drivers waved at us, a few honked or tweeted their horns and a couple even threw wrapped candy at me.

Most of these tractors were old restored but reliable antiques which didn’t have enclosures. It was a good thing that the day is cool. The rain didn’t start until after the parade was over at our house but I don’t know where the tractors were located when it stormed.

We have done many family things while in Iowa. My grandson, Joshua graduated from high school. My niece, Mc Kensie graduated from college. Our son from Alaska visited for a couple of days and helped Terry. Our son, Richard and daughter-in-law, Shelly and grandson, Marcus helped us tape and “mud” walls and take off wallpaper and thick paint. Then they took time to shoot Rich’s bow and arrows in the back yard.

Yes, we are living in the house but still have a lot of work to do before it is organized. Yes, we still are planning on RVing so that means we need two of most things for activities of daily living. We are visiting the thrift centers and buying new and used things.

To those of you who have asked about my niece who is expecting triplets, Mindy and babies are doing okay but Mindy is in the hospital on bed rest. She is in her 23rd week of pregnancy.

Memorial Days

Except for a ten-day trip to and from N.C., we have been busy in Iowa since the 28th of April. We bought the house from our daughter Karol. We have spent much time visiting with family, especially my mother, so I have not been on the computer much.

My mother became ill in February and has been in the hospital or a nursing care facility since then. We have visited her three times a week while in Iowa. On Saturday she was coherent and visited with us. We spent Sunday morning at church for a Memorial Day Celebration of the lives of those who died serving our country and of those of the congregation who died in the last year. Then we went to the Monroe County Care where my mother, Agnes Hoven, died peacefully at 1pm. The morning of Memorial Day was spent at the funeral home. Funeral services were held at 10:30 am at the First Christian Reformed Church in Oskaloosa on Wednesday, June 1. Burial was at Liberty Cemetery near Bussey.

Part of her eulogy is as follows:
Agnes Hoven was united in marriage with Clarence Hoven on August 20, 1941. She assisted her husband in many churches throughout their ministry. She taught Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, was a Ladies Bible Leader, and also helped in missionary work from 1953 to 2000 in Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky and Canada. Agnes had 7 children, 28 grandchildren, 47 great- grandchildren, 6 great-great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

I’m sure that Dad will miss her most of all.

We plan to stay in Iowa this summer. There is a lot of work that we still need to do on the house, especially painting and lawn care.

From California to Iowa

The Joshua trees were showing off their ice cream cone flowers and poppies were blooming with temperatures in the upper 80’s when we took a trip to the Beaumont area in CA. When we got to Iowa, the tulips I planted last fall were blooming but we received freeze warnings on May 3, 2011. The oak trees were only beginning to bud.

The trip from the campground to Iowa was an eventful one with winds as high as 60mph. two flat tires, and a dead battery on the car that I was driving for Frank and Opal. Gas was as high as $4.29 a gallon. Our schedule changed accordingly.

We will be busy this summer fixing the lawn and mowing it, painting the walls, getting new carpet, and buying appliances and furniture for our house in Iowa. We plan to move south in the RV before the snow falls.

Sunday, my brothers and sisters and their husbands and wives met at the rest home where my mother is living. She is planning on getting her cataracts removed next Monday. Dad moved to an apartment about a mile from her, which is in the renovated old hospital building where my sons Steven and Mark were born in the 1960’s.

Tomorrow we plan to take a day off and go to Pella and see the Tulip Festival.