Continued "Pictures from the Past"

It doesn't seem like that many things happen that would interest the 'blog' crowd in my 'neck of the woods' on a daily basis, so hopefully everybody enjoys the scanning I've been doing for the kids' wedding shower next weekend.

(above) This is cousin Rachel (from MN) and Alex at Mary's cabin in Lake View, and I think it must be spring of 1987, making Alex 1+ and Rachel 3.

This is the first (and only) cat we had in our house as we were growing up. Her name was Daisy and this was taken in 1981 when she was 16 years old (we got her in 1965 when we moved to a new house).

This is the first 'Markey' cousins Christmas picture taken in 1986. That's Amanda on the left at about 5 months of age, Alex, about 10 months and Brian, 3 1/2 years old.

Reminiscing again while I scan more 'kid pics'.

This is Grandpa Walker hold Samantha as a newborn, with his first grandson by his side. (Alex... He had a 3 year old granddaughter already.) Grandpa John Walker LOVED the grandkids--ALL five of them!!

This is Alex getting his first look at his new sister (Samantha) in the hospital a few hours after she was born on 7/18/87. (He was 18 months old.)

Miscellaneous pictures from last week...

When Izaac was at 'camp' (here) he went out after it rained in his 'boat' shoes and stomped in a few puddles. It's what great-aunt Wo-Wo lets him do!

I can't remember this little boy's name from the first wedding shower Allison and Danielle held for Samantha last Saturday. He's 8 months old and was smiling before I turned him away from his mom!

From the wedding shower last Saturday--yum.

Samantha bought a 'Barbie' fishing rod and caught this fish with Marty the other evening! yikes--that Barbie must be powerful!

"Controlled Burn" gets out of control today on the Prairie!

There are 79 acres of native prairie around our acreage, and today the plan was to burn the middle 1/3 section (the north strip east-to-west was burned last fall, and the southern strip is scheduled for fall, 2010). At 10:15am, I went out and shot a couple of pictures of the fire dying down. (These pictures are from 11:30-1pm.)

An hour later, it had jumped the firebreak and burned up a few more acres (not sure how many, but didn't get clear to our grass), and several Stanhope fire trucks made several trips for water before it ended after 1pm.


p.s.--Mike--doesn't the grass look nice in this bottom one where I used the new mower??? John says he can't afford green paint!!

The first asparagus sprigs and a new mower...

My brother will be so happy! We have asparagus growing wild in two places in our yard, and I found the first sprigs peaking up from the grass today.

John has tried to fix the old mower, but gave up finally and bought a new one today! It's a Cub Cadet and quite a bit bigger motor, mowing deck, tires, etc. Hopefully it will be a little heavier-duty than the last one. But the old one had a hard life with three acres to mow, so it did pretty well for the money.

Izaac at camp and what are they planting??

There were a couple of pickups and a digger in the field across from us on Saturday. On Tuesday they came back and dug up holes in a few places, and then this machine started made some loud noises, and it started 'planting' the black drain tile (hose) in the ground.

Izaac's happy because the riding mower is out of winter storage and he can 'drive' it again! The axle and front wheel still keep falling off, so it's going to sit a little longer (but the grass is really growing--so hopefully not too long!).

Sunset on the Mississippi

When we were in Potosi, Allison's dad took us right down on a road that lead right into the Mississippi. There was wildlife in abundance and a beaver near the edge of the road chewing on a fallen log.

The view was spectacular, and even though the pictures Alex took are nice, it was more incredible in person! Pictures are the reminders of a great memory.

Mommy and Daddy are home--let's eat!

These are 4 of 6 of the 'furry children' chowing down Easter Sunday afternoon when we arrived home from the Potosi/Dubuque weekend.

From top to bottom in the picture: Queenie, Lucy (with the fluffiest tale), Bogart and Georgie. Gracie and Noel are probably eating on their own somewhere else.

Iowa Cubs game today!

This is baseball hall-of-fame Ryne Sandberg who is now manager for the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines (IA). John and I used to go to Iowa Cubs games when we lived in Des Moines (and before we had children!!), so we had seen before him during several annual exhibition games with the Chicago Cubs vs. Iowa Cubs at the beginning of each season (in the 80's, they don't do that anymore).

This is Izaac with "Cubbie Bear" at the ball game today. Izaac isn't smiling, but he really loves Cubbie Bear. He ran the bases after the game (with a thousand other kids!) and stopped to hug, and then run back to Cubbie before going on to Home Plate....

Before and After in Alex's old room....

These two are "BEFORE" I cleaned Alex's bedroom (is it still his room when he's graduated from college and moved out and getting married????)....


These two are "AFTER"..... Not bad. I didn't throw EVERYTHING away! By the way: HEY ALEX----- I have a few containers for you!!!!!!

Views from the Dubuque (IA) river walk

The 'mighty' Mississippi is the eastern border of the State of Iowa, and these are some more view of what's viewable from the Iowa side.



This riverboat actually belongs to the Casino that is also in this area. There are other boats to take excursions on, though, too.

Potosi brewery in tourist pictures (by me)

The city of Dubuque (IA) was named after Julien Dubuque, who came from Canada and asked for permission to mine lead in the area from the Fox Indians. Legend has it that Princess Potosa was Julien's mate. (Not sure if it's true, but the root beer that is brewed here is fabulous!)

This is the hill behind the brewery, where the spring water that is used by the brewery comes from.

This is part of the display at the Potosi Brewery. Not sure why they chose this car to come out of the wall.... (That's Allison's dad behind John looking at the evidence.)

These tanks greet you at the entrance to the Potosi bar. (One says 'hot' water, and the other is 'cold'.)

Boys and breweries....last weekend

This is Alex and John at the first brewery we 'toured' last Saturday in Dubuque, looking at all of the bottles and cans that were on display.

This the beautiful bar in the Potosi Brewery Bar and Restaurant with the labels of past brands that have been brewed there.

This (below) is the biggest can of beer I've ever seen! It's across from the Potosi Brewing Co. in Potosi across the street from the Brewery.

Below is another view of one of the display cases at the Star Brewery (in the entryway to Stone Cliff Winery).

Sights from the weekend

This is the Stone Cliff Winery where Alex and Allison's rehearsal dinner will be in July. It's an old brewery, and there are some fun things to see.

Scene of the Second Wedding!!

This is the "River Room" at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, where the second (and last!) Walker wedding of the year (in July) will take place. Aptly named, the view from this room is of the Mississippi River!

We were invited to join Alex and Allison and Allison's parents to the 'taste-testing' event (held in another room in this facility) to choose the reception menu on Saturday. Yum. I'm glad I don't have to make the final decision. It was a pretty good mix of food and desserts!

Above is the "river walk", aptly named because it's a sidewalk in front of the "Mighty Mississippi"! It was a beautiful sunny day in the 60's, and the views were spectacular.

Above is a picture taken outdoors in front of the building where the wedding will take place. Below is a picture I took from inside this building, showing the obligatory train bridge in full view of the River Room! funny.