An Evening with Bats in Iowa.

We have had some cooler nights lately...  And Cheryl, with her injury still bothering her,  has consented to evening walks.   I like the evening walks in Iowa.   Well, not the walking part so much.   But I do like the Fawna we get to see.   Like Deer!

I also like feeding the horses and dogs we see along the way.

 And every now and then a colorful sunset.

But most impressive were the bats the other day.    There were so many flying bugs in the cornfields, that it looked as if it were snowing!   ( Pity the pictures did not turn out with the setting sun blinding everything)  But as the sun set, the bats came out in force!   I have seen several fluttering around our house, but this night there were dozens!   Very cool.   We found a dead one ( after a rather windy storm) and I believe they are the "Big Brown Bat" Species.  ( That is the actual name.  Look it up..)

And lastly,   for the last week,  I have seen this Cuckoo bird chasing around its adopted parent.   I knew that a Parasite bird had invaded one of the locals nests.  ( I saw the casualties on the sidewalk)

But the Cuckoo confirms it.  He is at least three times larger than his parents and they feverishly attempt to stuff him with anything that is edible.   Sometimes Nature can be so insidious with it's strategies for survival.  Killing unborn young and replacing it with your own is simply appalling.  But it apparently works.   Who ever said Mother Nature was fair and just?   ( She is NOT!)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far.   Cheryl and I have been working on our next presentation for the Farmer's Market.  Fingers crossed on how things go this time.

And the Time Flies!

Cheryl in the fields

Cheryl at the trail

 Another week has snuck by.  How is it that the days and week seem to be passing by at a far greater speed now that I'm older?   Looking back I see that it has been almost a full week since my last blog posting.   Surely something must have happened this week that was blog-worthy....

Cheryl after running with a cold

Well,   Not really.   I managed to give Cheryl my cold....  so now we both can share the joy of coughing and sneezing.   I'm still suffering the aftermath, but I think I'm pretty much over it.   Cheryl still suffers from the achy, coughing, stuffy-head part.   I guess there will be a few more days of that.

She still runs though

Through the town

But that has not stopped her from running.   The weather has been cooler this last week.   Almost perfect weather for running.   I say "almost" because running 14 miles with a cold is still a miserable affair. Still,   she managed it and we have continued to run a few miles every day this week.

Down the roads

Past the Silos

Out into the fields

Woosh!

A few things to note:  Normally I fill the blog with pictures of dusty car engines or scantly clad female runners.   But there are other things that I interesting.    Namely, the butterfly weed is out in all of its glory.   I managed to find both varieties.   Purple and orange.   Butterfly weed may be visually striking and bring in the butterflies, but it is not very pleasant to smell.  I wonder why that is.   Well, at least the bugs don't seem to mind.

Purple Butterfly weed

Black Raspberries are out!

Butterfly weed

In addition,  a few wildlife shots.   The deer, in particular, have been quite active.   Several times during a run, Cheryl and I have seen them running at us on the path or standing in yards in the middle of the day.   At one point we thought a doe and fawn were those ceramic lawn ornaments you see from time to time.   We were both shocked to see that the deer was moving!  I managed to snap this picture this afternoon on our way home.

Deer in mid afternoon.

Bunny on the trail

Plenty of rabbits this year.   Several have been running around our yard.   I guess with our cat remaining inside, they have less to fear at the moment.  And there are tons out on the trail as usual.

If only finding inspiration were so easy.

With the summer Solstice over, we can now plan on trying to survive the summer.  We both have a few things to work on.   I have been slowly inching away at the book while also trying to get a few origami items folded up.  It's tough when you have to really work on the inspiration.  Cheryl has also been working on her designs and drawings.  She has added a few things to her shop for runners.

So hopefully we shall be over these blasted colds before the new week begins and can focus on things that are awesome and blog-worthy.   I'll let you know how things work out.   Until then,  thanks for stopping by.

Training with Trains and Running with Deer. Cheryl's Week in Running.

Sexy summer-like weather.

Cheryl's version of panting.

This Monday started right off with one of the short long runs for Cheryl.   14 miles in Davenport.   Compared to the Twin Cities the temps were much warmer.   Cheryl and I both down-dressed half way through the run.   It was about as nice a day as one could hope for in a Monday after a race.   Cheryl was even feeling frisky and spirited as we trotted along the Mississippi.

Faster than an anchored barge!

Slower than a speeding Diesel Freight Train?

It just would not be Davenport if Cheryl was not racing or chasing a train.   And I managed to capture the action as it happened this time.

Not to say that Cheryl is slow...but she did just run a 10 miler in Minnesota and she had already ran 10 miles in this training run.  Not to mention Trains are made of metal.   And trains are strong!  They burn diesel fuel....which is kind of a cheat if you think about it.    Ah well.... Good things trains do not show up at races....very often.

Colder weather, warmer dress.

The weather dipped down  about 10 degrees the following day and it has been fairly cold ever since.  Today was nice because of the sun, but it was still chilly in the morning.  

Chasing the deer.

Object in camera are closer than they appear!

The highlight of the run was the deer.   Normally we see the token duck, goose, and maybe a blue heron.  Today we were graced with a couple of deer that allowed Cheryl to get close.   How close?   Well,  there was a moment in Iowa City where she could have petted one.  ( That happened twice!) But this was pretty close too.  And I managed to have the camera ready this time.

I'm liking this smart phone for everything but the phone.   I can play music on long runs AND I have a built in camera that is handy for moments like this.   I'm impressed that it did not come out blury or out of frame.  Sometimes I get lucky...hopefully I will be able to tap into that when we go to Boston.

Other than that...I have been working.  Two days in a row!  We both have more hours coming up next month so that will mean less SubNautica time and more time spent earning money.... which is not as much fun.   I have been donating a few hours each day for some Origami,  so perhaps I will post some of those pics in the future.  We shall see

Clocking the time.

Big Weekend Plans! And Running with the Deer

Cheryl drops off yesterday's batch.

An early drop off to the post office and we were on our way to squeeze in one last run before the Santa Shuffle this weekend.   It was slightly warmer today than yesterday, and Cheryl ran the full 7 miles as usual.

4 Deer, no bucks. 

We were graced, one again, by the local deer family that hangs out in the wooded area.  I tried to capture them again, but they blend in so well that it is often difficult to distinguish them from the brush.  I thought an animation might work here, to at least show the movement.

With only 20 stockings to make for the day, we felt we could take our time in Coralville today and buy some travel food and such for the trip.  It is nice knowing that 20 stockings is a walk in the park after all of those days of 35-40 a night.

20 stockings ready for packing!

This batch marks the last "Arrive Before Christmas" stockings.  Even that is a hopeful.   We never know what the Post office people will do with them once we drop them off.

Cheryl adds the finishing touches

More Food for the Blog!

You may think that this close to the Holiday that people would "understand" that there is a high probability that their stocking will not make it before the big day.  However,  despite numerous warnings on our front page,  people continue to buy.   I can only assume they know what they are getting into.   We certainly do not want to talk them out of their purchase.

With the "brain cloud" of stockings moving on,  we can now focus on the sunshine ahead of us.   Namely:  The Santa Hustle in Indiana.   I'm preparing for extreme cold, but I hear that it may begin and end in a Stadium of some sort.   This might make my spectator activities more enjoyable.  We shall see.   There is still much to figure out, since the Expo and the race are downtown and we are staying outside of that area.  I'm hoping for a great run for Cheryl, lots of pics for me, and a really good Hot Chocolate!  We shall see.

Weekend Stockings, Running, And Cold Weather.

45 sales over 2 days!  Not bad.

Cheryl cuts out the parts

 After taking a much needed break yesterday,  the weekend stocking orders have exploded in our face!  We just finished 30 orders and already have 25 for tomorrow.   Cheryl has been daring the Universe to send us some "Real" orders...  and perhaps the Universe is listening.

Embroidery Station  Online!

With so many orders in one day, we cap the work load at 30.   That is the number of stockings we can safely do before we transform into an evil being.  Also,  that is the maximum amount before mistakes creep in. Don't get me wrong, mistakes happen!  But our ability to handle them in a "sane" matter compromised.

So we started the day with the easy stuff and worked until it became a little warmer outside.  ( 11:00 A.M.) I embroidered most of the stockings and Cheryl cut out the parts.   The rest would have to wait until we returned.

Kind of like this guy.... ( not my pic) 

Cheryl shows off winter fashion 

We packed up and headed to Iowa City for our usual errands.  I brought the camera this time, because yesterday we saw a very large Buck cross the road in front of us!   He was easily a 10-12 pointer.  He had a doe with him and stopped long enough for us to be bedazzled by those huge antlers!   My thought ( and hope) was that we would see another one on our run this afternoon.   Unfortunately, there were no wildlife sightings today....other than several hawks.

Running in the cold.

We have seen at least 4 antlered deer this year. ( not counting the dead ones ...which would be two additional) One deer was in Wisconsin on our way back from one of those races.

At least the sun was toasty.

Cheryl still had to bundle up for the run, but at least the wind was not a factor.  The Iowa sun did its best to try to warm things up for us a touch.  Looks like the summer gear is finally going to be retired for the year.

Back at the stockings!

Stockings complete.  Wrap attack time.

On our return, we finished the stockings and it is now dark outside.   I'm impressed how quickly the sunlight fades at this time of year.

Purple flowers turn brown and gray

Even the Marigolds are feeling it.

 As mentioned before, the cold snap hit us pretty hard here and my flowers are finally feeling the season.   The purple cone flowers are pretty much history after this killing frost.  The Marigolds continue to hang on....but for the first time this season, even they show signs of wilting.

Too bad the sun is down already.

Wednesday is rapidly approaching and things are bound to get even more crazy when that happens.   Fingers crossed the cold is the only thing we will have to deal with when we get there.   Thanks for stopping in.