Small Town Giggles

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

HURRY, HURRY, HURRY, One Day Back to School Sale

HURRY, HURRY, HURRY, One Day Back to School Sale, 10% off all my products, bundles included. Just enter code MORE15 at check out for discount. Load your cart, sale starts at Midnight tonight.

Visit my store my clicking here: Smalltowngiggles

Here are some more stores that might interest you;

Thank you, Rose

Rain, Rain, Finally came our way.

We finally go the rain we needed. Storms have passed us by for the last two weeks. The rain will look like it’s heading our way but then split us and form again once past. It has been the strangest thing. Areas around us have had too much rain but here in our town we have recorded just .2 of an inch. Well, that all changed last night. We had lots of rain, and thunder and lightning. There is 2 and .2 tenths in our rain gauge this morning with more on the way. Rain barrel is full now in fact overflowing.

We have been using the hose. And that isn’t good in this town as water isn’t cheap. Besides plants grow better with rain water. Now maybe the tomatoes will ripen faster with the needed moisture. We are so wanting some fresh salsa. Speaking of salsa, our son-in-law makes the best salsa around. He cans many, many jars every summer and keeps us in salsa for the year. It is so good. Did I say he makes the best around. Anyway, we did get a couple of small, and I mean small tomatoes for nachos. Dan’s salsa made it the perfect supper for a hot summer meal.

I love raining days. Enjoy

Rose

Monday, August 3, 2015

Back to School Time. Get Ready

It's that time of year again. Time to get ready for school. Teachers Pay Teachers is having a site wide sale. Check it out. Just use BTS15 when you checkout.

Check out my store here; Smalltowngiggles

Here are some more stores that might interest you;

Covered Bridges of Madison County and other interesting sites in Winterset IIowa

After spending last Wednesday catching up with family, Hubby and I spent Thursday touring the covered bridges of Madison County and other sites in Winterset Iowa. We spent a couple of hours touring the Madison County Historical Complex.

We then took the scenic drive up to Clark Tower. “Clark Tower is a castle-like limestone tower located in Winterset City Park was erected in 1926, on the eightieth anniversary of the founding of Madison County, in memory of Caleb Clark, a stonemason who was the first white settler of Madison County, and his wife Ruth Clanton Clark. The tower stands at a height of 25 feet.” I loved the drive through the woods and the surprise when we got to our goal. We had never heard of Clark Tower and had no idea what it looked like. It was very cool.

Road up to tower.

Clark Tower

view from top of tower

We next checked out a couple of covered bridges. They are pretty cool, too. This was an interesting fact we learned that day. The bridges were covered to protect the roadway, because it was cheaper to replace the boards of the roof and walls, then the heavy beams of the actual bridge.

Cutler-Donahoe Bridge was built in 1870 by Eli Cox and moved to its present site in Winterset's City Park in 1970.

Cedar Covered Bridge

Cedar Covered Bridge is the only Madison County covered bridge that vehicles are still permitted to drive across.

A trip to Winterset isn’t complete without a stop at the John Wayne museum. Winterset is the birthplace of John Wayne as most know. We toured the museum especially enjoying the 15 minute movie before you enter the museum. Tour of the museum also came with a tour of his home until he was three and the family moved to California

Childhood home of John Wayne

It was a fun and interesting day. Learned a lot about an area only a couple of hours from home. Do you have interesting things to see in your area? I suggest you take the time to check them out, if you haven't. I am glad we did. In fact, we are thinking of checking out a few other interesting areas in our state.

You can read more about the Winterset Iowa here;

Covered Bridges of Madison County

Madison County Historical

John Wayne Museum

Clark Tower

Winterest Iowa City Park

Enjoy,
Rose

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Trip Back In Time

Last week my hubby decided he wanted to travel to his hometown to check things out and reconnect with cousins he hasn’t seen in many years. When I say many years, I mean many years. I had never met them since we have been married and that is 53 years. I thought, OH Boy, this could be interesting. We stopped at a gas station to take a break and he asked if there was any of his relatives still living in Emerson. Well, lo and behold, there was one cousin still there. A customer was just leaving and volunteered to show us the way. When hubby knocked on the door, Kirk knew him instantly. Hadn’t seen each other in over 45 years. I was amazed. After a nice visited we toured the town. Took pictures of the house he lived in before they moved to Shelby. Found out the farm house where is dad worked had been torn down and the three stores that the family owned on Main Street had been destroyed in a flood in 1982. That was kind of sad but all and all it was a fun time.

We then traveled a couple of more hours to the home of his cousin who he hadn’t seen since he was a kid. We have been keeping in touch though at Christmas time via cards and letters. It was so nice to finally meet someone I have been writing to for years. It was a fun visit hearing about the summers hubby spent at their farm. Came home with pictures of his mother’s graduation, his grandmother and an interesting fact. We knew that hubby’s family was descendants of an Indian tribe but know ever said or knew which tribe. Well, thanks to Dorothy’s granddaughter who researched it for a term paper, they now know they are one eighth Cherokee.

It was a two day trip I can truthfully say I wasn’t sure about but it turned out to be a very fun adventure. Just goes to show you. Never be afraid to venture out and do something out of the ordinary.

The next day we toured Winterset, home of the covered bridges of Madison County and the birthplace of John Wayne. More on that in my next post.

Some photos from our first day out.

Jerry's grandmother on the right and her sisters.

Jerry's mom.

First childhood home

Directory at entrance of Emerson Cemetery

Rural Iowa

An exciting fact we learned from the trip.

Rose.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Old Fashioned but pretty Balsam

My mother always grew Balsam. I always thought the flowers were pretty plus it was fun “popping" the seed pods when they appeared. So, one of the first thing I planted was a packet of Balsam seeds. Planted them on the south side of the house and they grew great. Over time the trees started to give enough shade that I had to revamp the south side flower beds. So I moved the Balsam to the north side of the house. Lo and behold, they did even better there. Balsam are sallow rooted plants, and loved the relief of some shade during hot spells. I haven’t planted Balsam in years. It comes up abundantly every year on its own. Every spring I have enough seedlings that the whole town could have plants. Thank heavens they pull out very easy, being sallow rooted, even tho I hate destroying them. And after a couple of mowings they totally disappear from the lawn. I still think they are very pretty and no I don’t pop the seed pods anymore.

Some interesting facts about Balsam:

“Balsam is a Victorian garden favorite. It is a quick growing summer annual flower, with gardenia-like blooms. Continuous blooms grow on top of a bushy plant with glossy leaves. You will get blooms in about 60-70 days. Balsam is a member of the Impatiens family. Colors include shades of white, pink, rose, violet, and red. Balsam are native to Asia, North America, and South Africa.”

or here.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/balsam/balsam-plant-information.htm

Seed pod photo from http://davesgarden.com/

Photos of my Balsam,

If you are ever looking for a different "annual", try Balsam. They will come back year after year.

Have a great Thursday,

Rose

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Beautiful day in Iowa

What a beautiful day we had here in Iowa. The temperature was in the mid 80’s. Nice breeze. Loved being able to turn off the A.C. and air out this old house. We actually turned it off last night before bedtime. I love sleeping with the windows open. Love the night noise that insect make. The wrens and robins greeting the day at 4:30 maybe not so much. But with the cool breeze coming in the window, getting back to sleep was easy. On our morning walk we almost needed a light jacket or long sleeves. Just made us walk faster to warm up. Rather nice after the last scorching days.

Here are some pictures from our morning walk on the trail.