Month: June 2025

Summer is here; temperatures this weekend are predicted to be in the upper 90 degree range with “feels like” ratings of over 100. The peonies bloomed and I attended a No Kings rally. Details below!

We have three varieties of peonies in the front yard. They include a deep red, white, and traditional pink. The deep reds bloomed first, followed by the pink and white varieties.

Unfortunately, a heavy rain and high winds did a number on the peonies and their blooming days were cut short. We enjoyed them while they were at their finest!

Note: I have added flower photos to my Gallery page. A few are from Colorado and the rest from around Heart House.

I attended a No Kings rally, held in Cresco, Iowa. The crowd was small, just over 60 attendees in this very small town, but we received many honks and thumbs up from traffic going by (in addition to a few thumbs down).

There were some really good signs from other protests as well. I liked these from Buzzfeed:

At any rate, it was good to get out and express my feelings with others of a like mind.

I have a few unrelated comments regarding some odds and ends. The first concerns replies to my blog posts.

A few weeks back I had changed a setting on submitting comments, removing the need to add a user name and e-mail address. I immediately saw a dramatic uptick in spam and advertising, so I have put the requirement for name and e-mail back on.

I hope this change back to the original settings does not make a problem for regular commenters.

Here is a photo that shows off a Christmas gift from Becky, a phone holder for my truck. I used the holder on my trip to visit Felicity and Peter in New York. The holder, which attached to the AC vent, worked fine and I was glad to have it.

A medical note: I had a routine eye exam this past week and it appears I have small cataracts developing, particularly in my right eye. Two more exams are scheduled to do advanced diagnostic, but it appears I may be having surgery sometime in October. This is a developing story.

Speaking of developing, here is a recent photo of the house going in across Main Street from us. Progress appears to be slow, but I believe the electric service has been installed and the porches have been framed in. Roofing should follow shortly.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

The local weatherman predicted the weekend weather: NE Iowa would have humid “air you can wear.” An accurate prediction (this time). Elma is experiencing Midwest humidity at its most oppressive. These conditions are hardest on the dogs and outside cats; long hair and fur obviously are not an advantage in hot summer conditions.

Be cool.

Today’s Humor:

Flowers come and go this time of year. The lilacs and butterfly bush are done, but other flowers are blooming. Here is a short photo tour of our yard as of June 6th. Please click on the image(s) to open a larger version in a new tab.

We are nearing the end of another project: Sidewalk renewal is nearly complete. We received and spread a load of dirt over the mess caused by the tearing up of the old sidewalk when replacing the water line. I put down some grass seed a few days ago and hope the new grass comes in OK.

A part of the same project included a reconfiguration of the dog run. Part of it had been removed to let the equipment have access to the old sidewalk, and the fencing had to be reinstalled. We decided to place the fencing and gate nearer to the back steps, granting easier access to the water hose and making the area a bit easier to mow.

This was a multi-day project as I needed to let the concrete set up around the posts before stringing the fence and hanging the gate. Pam had a section of temporary fence in place during this time.

It has been an active time since my last post, with work on the yard, planting flowers in baskets and hanging them, finishing the dog run, and doing other yard work. I received a new lawn blade sharpening fixture, pulled the blades off the rider and push mower, and sharpened them. (Previously I had sharpened them ‘freehand’ using an angle grinder.) Both units are now cutting very well and the yard is looking good; the recent rains helped keep everything green.

One other change affected my stereo system. My old Pioneer receiver had been having a channel cut out every now and then; it finally died altogether. I replaced it with a used Denon DRA-425R found on eBay. It is nice to have both channels back again, particularly on Saturday mornings (when I usually do my blog) with American Top 40 oldies playing on the radio in the background.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Grayce Update: Dare I say I think she may be toilet trained? Hard to say definitively, because she’s been spending so much time outside. I still don’t trust her to run free (unsupervised) in the house. Besides which, that pup is a destructive chewer; she could easily take out a few pieces of furniture left unattended. Grayce will be spayed this coming Tuesday.

Rock on.

Today’s Humor: