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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

WOYWW #229


Good Morning WOYWW-ers.  It's Wednesday and that means at Julia's blog STAMPING GROUND is the day for posting our workspace fun.

 Made a couple of Fall Birthday cards and have finishing touches to do on the little fabric pumpkin
The workspace left of above..kind of a holding table for STUFF..this is mostly Halloween and Fall which is about to be put away as the day will arrive and be gone quicker than I like.

Grandchildren Cael to the left, Camryn in the middle and Cash to the right.  Little Cash won the Halloween Costume Contest overall.  The "LITTLE MINION" 's costume was created by his dad!! Good Job Son.
It always was his favorite time of year growing up.

I missed last week's WOYWW adventure, I was visiting this family for a couple of days. I took them 5 of the big pumpkins for their Halloween carvings.  I had a post on the pumpkins my husband raised here,
LittleTreasures in case you missed it.

 Have some fun times visiting WOYWW  this week. I hope your weather is being nice to you.  Ours..very cold in the 40's daytime, 30's at night. Forecast was snow, but I think it went SOUTH of us?   I'm never ready for WINTER...I enjoy it, but it limits me to the outdoors for too long of time.


Thanks for stopping by,

SOME FUN COLORS

Good morning fellow bloggers:

I've been missing in action in this area of my life.  Spent a few days visiting my grandchildren. Had a couple of funerals,  (his cousin 61 possible E-Coli) enjoyed visiting with his 13 siblings and ( a classmate ) who had a short battle with strokes and cancer.   Kinda zaps your sails..seem so young yet.

SOME FUN COLORS:


 Black and Gold for Hawkeye Fans, Red and Gold for Iowa State Fans

I haven't crocheted for a while and thought I'd make a few Cowl or as the MAN put it in another store;
"Lady they are called "Infinity Scarfs". OK whatever.
 Just loved the sale price and the pretty colors. Now to SIT and enjoy the warm nights at home as our weather is definitely changing.  Mid 40's daytime and 30's evenings. Way to soon for this.

AND this was the best buy...Hobby Lobby had these OLD FASHIONED candy bars sitting on the counter to tempt all of us "Oldie's"....just as fun to eat as they were way back when.  Now to find a Walnut Crush.

Thanks for stopping by, have a fun day doing what you enjoy

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

WOYWW #227

It's Wednesday and that means time to post What's On My Workdesk Wednesday...you can get all the info from sweet Julia's blog  STAMPING GROUND  if you want to participate.

My desk has not changed one bit from last week. I've been out enjoying the fall weather, riding my bike, walking, taking my DH from field one to field two, three, or four depending where he can get the best yields to harvest.

So thought I'd share a few outside FARMING pictures with you today, Julia thought it interesting last week.
No one lives on the farmstead across the way, this is a field of corn north of our home stubbles left from already picked corn and what remains to be done in far ground.  He switched from beans to corn fields as we had some heavy rain and storms and bean fields are too wet yet to finish harvesting.


To the left is my DH on his combine which picks corn or combines beans, when the top hopper is full he empties it into the wagons. Sometimes if product is dry enough he hauls it direct to the town Co-op to sell or store there until the prices are right. You can see our garage in the background and attached is our home to the south.
If product has too much moisture he unloads the wagon here, where it is somewhat dried and augured up to the top to put in the bin to store until he wants to haul it to town to sell. He would rather take it direct to town. But if product is too wet he gets docked on price.
 The cows and calves to the west of this field were watching me pretty close. When the field my husband is working in is done, he will turn the cattle into it to clean up the corn. They love to be in a wide open space and beller loudly to let you know they want to be there NOW. He puts up an electric fence to keep them confined to that area.

My other project outdoors was filling this little weathered shed with outside lawn furniture, decor from the yard for  winter keeping.  I loaded pumpkins up and brought them to the garage before the storms game and gave some to my family and have several big ones to take top my grandkids very soon. I had a post about pumpkins,  http://littletreasures-sylvia.blogspot.com/2013/10/pumpkins.html ,

AND our trip to GERMANY  http://littletreasures-sylvia.blogspot.com/2013/10/our-germany-vacation-2013.html  here. This was a time consuming post another reason not to be creating this week.

Thanks for stopping by...have a wonderful week. and Enjoy your WOYWW visits.

ATC EXCHANGE "PRETTY LITTLE WITCHES"

   I just love ATC exchanges
. And Kimberly over at ArtJoyStuff always has fun ones.
 From Liz
From Kimberly (lucky in the draw)
 From Trish

From Carolyn

Ladies thank you all so much...I love each one so much,  just great colors and a special uniqueness, for the exchange of "Pretty Little Witches".  Thanks to Kimberly for hosting.

 These were the ones I sent out  Picture quality is really bad.
Backside
Not too much better.


Also Kimberly is doing an ATC for the 52 Weeks and has about 4 weeks for some new swappers to exchange with her, http://artjoystuff.blogspot.com/2013/10/looking-for-few-new-atc-swappers.html
It is a one on one.  You can create any design and she has hers posted.  You won't regret in partaking.


Thanks for stopping by.



Sunday, October 6, 2013

Our Germany Vacation 2013

We were fortunate enough to be able to go to Ramstein, Germany and visit my son and his family.  The 10 days went so fast. Besides perfect weather, our trip planner (my son) did a wonderful job of finding interesting places to visit in a short time. We flew out of Des Moines about 1:30 Aug 28, layover in Charlotte NC leaving about 8:30pm  for an 8 hr flight. Arriving in Frankfurt about 11 AM ..7 hour time change. We were to be at Terminal 2 according to the internet and our flight schedule. But they couldn't unload there so we taxied to Terminal 1, it created a BIG problem for Jeremy in finding us after about an hour or more of waiting and then asking questions on where is Flight 706.  Oh at Terminal 1 ...so I truly don't know what time he arrived. It was THANKFULLY the only mix up we had.  We just waited outside hoping he'd find us. We had no way to communicate with him. And find us he did.

We spent the first day Aug 29th enjoying their home, his grilling, and some friends he invited over.  Needless to say the 2 grandgirls were our best enjoyment. Their home is unique with 3 floors of space, a garage for a tiny car (he has a Yukon)so he has storage!  and backyard patio and a small yard for the girls to play in.
This is a side view of his home, he is in the middle of a 3 row  housing unit, with 3 levels above ground. Kind of like our condo's but a bigger scale .





We spent the 2nd day Aug 30th  going to Luxembourg, visiting General Patton's grave at the American Cemetery and Memorial .  What a tribute to all of the men who sacrificed their life.
 That evening we walked a few blocks to a great little place, Hotel Anna's, owned by an ex IOWAN, and had Schnitzel, beer and an evening walking tour of Ramstein.  Got a good nights sleep only to leave at 4AM for our first adventure.





He used the USO  tour buses and how nice to meet so many friendly people and the wonderful tour guides.

The third day Aug 31, Saturday we toured Brugge, Belgium. as a walking tour of this quaint little town with cobblestone streets visiting  the Church of St Elizabeth, Church of Our Lady, Vismarket, Basilica of the Holy Blood, Burg Square, the Market former commercial center of the city. We stopped at an outside Pub and had a few beers and cheese with a young couple from England.    We arrived back in Ramstein about 2:30AM . Took showers, a quick nap, dressed for the day and left at 4AM  for our next tour.







Then on Sept. 1st Sunday our 4th  ( for our 8th Anniversary) he sent us to Paris on another USO Kaiserslautern Tour, the bus would take us to a specific place gave us some time to take pictures etc , we had time to visit the Eiffel Tower , Notre Dame de Paris (more than 700 yrs old, ) a HUGE beautiful cathedral.   The Arc De Triomphe, this was like the arch in St Louis, over looked Paris and all their magnificent buildings and streets., we had a few hours free time for seeing the EXPENSIVE shops and had lunch at an outside eatery. with an evening supper in the Latin Quarter area,  at Au Bistro de la Montagne, a 5 course meal with wine and beer and  live Accordion music, waltz and polka's.  Then we were treated to an evening cruise on the Seine, seeing the City of Lights at night was an awesome experience. Arriving back in Ramstein about 4:30AM.  We were able to sleep in til about 8AM and prepare to leave for Garmisch, Germany. We were amazed at the architecture in Paris. All the buildings in these countries are stone, brick or mortar..You don't see many wood framed structures. And most all of these buildings are VERY OLD.







The fifth day Sept 2nd we packed up 6 of us about 9:30 AM  and drove to Garmisch, about a 5 hr drive to spend 4 nights at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort,in the Bavarian Alps, that was equipped with everything you needed to relax. (A swimming pool, and playground for the girls seemed just what we needed to wear them out!)  He had arranged for my husband and I go visit  Griesbrau  Brewery a few miles away,on a tour, entertainment in the beer hall  and a lovely Bavarian supper were very much enjoyed. And quickly off to bed.
Above and Below is the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort
 Entrance to main gate at resort and surrounded by photo below also

The 6th day,  Sept 3rd we all left on a USO tour bus about 7:30 that took us to Mils Austria for Breakfast  at a SUPER beautiful McDonald's...The one side was all windows looking towards the snowcapped mountains. The food was excellent and there was no trash or untidiness here!!! Spic and Span.  on to  Fleur Pass Switzerland. We had an outdoor lunch at Wolfgang Pass outside of Davos, with extremely HIGH priced food, I settled for soup and some special bread. Switzerland was very pricey. then we were en-route to Vaduz, Liechtenstein, time for some shopping and another stop in Mils Austria on the way back.   This was a long bus tour and curving roads and high elevations and motion sickness got to little Sky Lynn and her mother. But Jeremy was quick to respond in handing out little buckets provided.   These 2 countries were the most beautiful, with mountains, snow capped and lots of flowers decorating the homes on hillsides. Several small churches in every little town. . Back to Garmish about 5pm.   We had beer and  supper at the Sportsbar, wings and fries. and a little time at the Casino,while the girls enjoyed the pool.



Waiting peacefully for our food, The girls got bored and we went to the playground. Thank goodness for that.




The  7th day Sept 4th we all left on a USO tour bus that took us to Italy. Leaving about 7 AM for a guided tour in the foothills of Dolomite Es, Our first stop was a photo stop at the Europa bridge  then to Bolzano for lunch, it was Italian PIZZA and beer!  and free time,   a Museum of OTZI a 5,300 year old iceman at the South Tirol Museum of Archaeology . . This compact little city had charming shops and cafes, bakeries, and awesome little buildings. Then we stopped at a medieval town Vipiteno, known for its Italian wine and leather goods . Italy was VERY reasonable priced. Arriving back at Garmish about 8pm.  I loved the cobblestone streets and all the little shops in Italy. Our tour guide these past 2 days was the same fun gal and she had the other passengers give a round of applause to the 2 grand daughters for being so good both days.  And they were.



Italian Pizzaa!!

OTZI the Iceman  the story was featured in National Geographic and it is an unbelievable discovery. His remains even have a special team of doctors to keep them at a perfect temperature, and  a hospital room if electric goes out or there needs to be attention paid to this find.
 Daddy and Summer taking time to catch up on much needed sleep. The girls were so good on this trip.
 Sky enjoying a little nap...most days there were some naps being taken. Had to have energy for the swim pool in the evening
A little red passenger train, touring thru the countries.

The 8th day Sept 5th we left about 8:30 AM and we went on a small bus thru the countryside of Austria and Germany to the Ammertal  Wood Carvers Shop,what fun things to shop for and a beautiful view of the mountains. Then to  the  WieBkirche, a pilgrimage church built in the country,near Steingaden.  The inside of this was spectacular. We had some wonderful homemade LARGE glazed donuts and gift shops to visit. Then off  to The Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle,is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany.  Details of King Ludwig II's life. Over 300 steps on this adventure!!!  We had lunch at an outside eatery, with the great beer or wine, and I ordered Potato Pancakes. truly awesome. 
Beautiful view of the countryside, as we were about to visit the Wood Carver's shop




A Pilgrimage Church
Magnificent inside
This was a delightful country setting.
Totally awesome bakery, made special for your tour bus.


A break on the way to the top of the castle.  I think there were 300 steps or so
Summer switched her ways to travel up the steep hill.
Little Sky our runner, kept a pretty good pace with her daddy.
Made it to the top and toured the inside of this huge Castle. A photo from above of  small villages
 Arriving back at Garmisch about 5PM  That night we went downtown to a wonderful old part of town to a German Restaurant with a man playing an accordion and songs like the Tennessee Waltz, Arrivederci Roma, Goodnight Sweetheart. Brought back so many memories of my dad, playing the waltz's and polka's most of his life.  The girls danced and we were entertained by 2 young men doing the Slap Dance thing. Our food was excellent. I had the pork and dumplings with a wonderful cabbage. We had fun window shopping on the walk back to the car.  The little girls and I had fun looking in a "MINATURE SHOP".  They knew the name of every pan on the little stove.
A delightful evening of German music and food in downtown Garmisch

Dancing to some waltz's
A family who enjoys food!!!! Variety at this table  Fries and Hot Dogs...Pork Knuckle, Oxen, Pork and Dumplings, Fish.   ALL was VERY good.
Window shopping by " TheLittle Miniature" shop,  the girls just loved this. They tried the door several times to see if we could go in. They loved the kitchen items. Stove and all the little tiny pans. They knew what a fry pan, soup pot, teapot, and tiny dinner dishes all were.  They were just so excited!!!


We left Garmish Sept 6th  about 9AM on our return home we stopped at a Burger King for lunch! Again another SPIC & SPAN eatery, and to let the little girls play at the playground. Our next break,  an IKEA store, which I have never been to here in the states.  Upon returning to Ramstein, we freshened up, repacked our suitcases, and went to the IOWA mans little restaurant Hotel Anna's, up the street for mostly beer and a good pizza. Our walk home showed we were all a bit tired. Upon returning home we went to bed early to be ready for our  departure the next day Sept 7th to the Frankfurt airport about a 2 hr drive NW. Our flight left about 12:30 to return home. The airport was nice. Very easy to get in and out of.
 A fun part of going home a stop at Burger King  SKY LYNN
I can spend a lot of time in all these bubbles and you can't get to me!!! Summer Rose
 On the downhill going to Hotel Anna's for a little libation.
Hotel Anna's for food and drink and a fun visit with an IOWA owner.


A TOAST OF THANKS to JEREMY and HELEN for inviting us and showing us a wonderful time.

The countryside was beautiful, lots of hills and mountains. Little farming communities, raising corn and hay fields. Scattered about were sheep, goats, and a variety of cattle. Quaint little homes and lots of neat and tidy areas.  Flowers were always in abundance. Very FRESH air.   Weather was very similar to Iowa's , 70's while we visited and that was great as there is no air conditioning.. Mostly all little cars. Mercedes, BMW's , VW's , Mini Coopers. with gas at 8.00 Euro so small is the only way to go!~  We saw small passenger trains, and over 22 tunnels. One was 10 miles long. Their lives seem quiet and peaceful.  Except on the Autobon...no speed limit in most areas...100 mph is nothing, people in Porsche's passing at 130 mph. But yet not many accidents.  Maybe cause no one is Texting, Using Cell Phones, or Having Lunch. Just paying attention to the highway.

 A deep breathe and trusting your driver.
 Farming is on a small scale. I think the hay fields and corn fields we saw were used by the farmer for their animals.
 I don't believe there are any 2000 or more acres of farmland owned by 1 person here.
 Probably not even 500 acres.  We saw no BIG farm equipment like here in the states.
 Cattle here, sheep, goats are pretty much higher in the mountains, but come down before snow sets in, with a party held to celebrate a good year. A few horses here and there. Everything was neat and tidy.
Yes a few wind generators
SKY loves to pick flowers....ever since she was in the stroller.
SUMMER taking a little walk in the back parking lot of their home area. 3 homes connected and J is in the middle.  His Yukon is TOO big for the garage. Which serves as storage.

Jeremy informed me  when he called that the Hotel Anna's man from Iowa had a stroke that following week. Only in his 40's, he is doing okay. But is taking time off and going on vacation. We wish him well.

I can never thank my son and Helen enough for letting us stay and showing us around. Jeremy is always so encouraging on us doing things, and traveling to wherever he gets assigned.  I miss them so much and I miss seeing the girls growing up and visiting, but we've learned to cope.  Thanks for SKYPE  it keeps us updated a little.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the photos.  Over 1000 to sort thru. If not familiar with blogging you can leave a comment in the comment section below, by clicking on it and typing in the box.