Posted by Becky @ 5:17 pm | 2 Comments I was feeling a little under the rainbow today
August 31, 2010 | Iowa, Weather
Back to school
August 19, 2010 | Family, Iowa, School
My second-grader and two Kindergartners started back to school today. They have new teachers and lots of new classmates this year, so I hope they get to know everyone and adjust well. Luckily, they still have lots of familiar faces in school. Hope they have a great day and a great year!
Twin trivia: They really should rename this town Twin City. (There might be more twins than forests here.) I heard there are five sets of twins in Kindergarten this year (not all in one classroom, though). One of the teachers the girls had last year has 3-year-old twins. Their new teacher this year has grown twins. My son has a twin in his class this year (both twins were in his scout group last year).
Wine: Picket Fence
April 27, 2010 | Iowa, Wine
I am by no means a wine connoisseur, but I like to drink it, and I really like to try local wines. I was surprised to learn how many wineries there are in Iowa. We even have one just down the road from us. What’s better than trying the local flavor of your new home?
This isn’t a review. I’ll leave that to the experts. No, this is more of an American Bandstand Rate-a-Record opinion, “It’s got a good beat, and you can dance to it. I give it a 98, Dick.” Only, you know. With wine. And without Dick.
I recently tried Picket Fence, a semi-sweet white wine by Park Farm Winery in Bankston, Iowa. It was recommended to me by Eric in the liquor department at Hy-Vee in Mason City. It was $9.99. (He was spot on with all his recommendations.)
On the bottle: “A crisp, clean, semi-sweet white wine. Our Picket Fence pairs wonderfully with fish, seafood, chicken and pork dishes; especially when cooked with butter or cream sauces. Not too dry, yet not too sweet, this wine is on the fence!”
I really liked it. I like white wines, especially German rieslings, but some of the Iowa whites I’ve tasted are way too sweet with a “homemade” taste to them. Picket Fence, though, was just the right balance for me. I drank it with a ham dish with a cream sauce — a recipe I got from @collisionbend (Thanks, Will!) — and it was tasty.
Books: The Many Hats of Jeremiah Porter
April 23, 2010 | Books, Iowa
We just read The Many Hats of Jeremiah Porter by Karen Carr, an Iowa author. The book was illustrated by Joan Nixt, also from Iowa. In fact, they’re very local. The inspiration for the book was Carr’s granddaughter, who attends my children’s elementary school. We got to meet them all on Saturday at our favorite bookstore, Bookadee. They were there for a reading and book-signing. They also brought some of Mrs. Porter’s chocolate-chip cookies. Yum!
Here they are in their butcher hats (one of Jeremiah Porter’s many hats).
Ode to spring
April 22, 2010 | Family, Iowa, Spring
Daffodils are up. Snow fences are down.
Freedom. Lighter backpacks mean bigger items for show & tell.
Oh, spring. Ooh, you are so big. So absolutely huge. Gosh, we’re really impressed down here, I can tell you. You’re just so super.
I love that you’re here, but I hate that it took so long. I could do without the bipolar extremes, but that won’t happen in Iowa, will it? No. No, it won’t.
Blackbirds
April 4, 2010 | Iowa, Spring
Listen up, yo. I’m sure you think of yourselves like this. Sorta poetic and all.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
I’ll tell you what, though. You keep trying to build a nest in my dryer vent? I’ll be singing this song.
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
Fair warning.
