The Talens' Tales

Another of my new favorite flowers is Morning Glory. I love the trailing vines and the fact that each flower lasts for a very short time. But there are so many of them on a vine, they seem to last much longer. They certainly make for a glorious morning.

While we were in Walnut Grove, we took a picnic supper to eat because it said on the web-site there was a really nice county park near by called "Plum Creek Park." This park is divided into and upper and a lower section. The upper section is on Lake Laura and has camping and swimming while the lower section in on Plum Creek and has trails and picnic areas. So, the lower park was where we wanted to go. We found the sign for the entrance to the upper park on the right hand side of the road and it had an arrow point left for the lower park. The only problem was there was no driveway on the left hand side of the road. It was someone's house. Umm...okay we thought and we continued to drive down the road. The we saw this sign... What? The Upper park is down this road? I thought we passed the Upper park? Talk about confusing. We kept driving and then we were able to see both sides of the sign. Now it makes a little more sense. Sort of. I guess. But only when you are looking at i...

Ever since I was very young, I have loved Little House on the Prairie . My grandparents got me the books for my birthday. They gave me three every year for three years and I looked forward to getting my new books quite a bit. And of course I loved the TV show. I always imagined that it had to be so cool to live during the pioneer days and wear dresses and live off the land and be in wide open spaces where there aren't so many people. Well, we live only an hour away from Walnut Grove. Yes, the Walnut Grove. The little town that the TV show was set in (not that it was filmed here or anything, but it was the setting) and the little town that the Ingalls family actually lived near during the On the Banks of Plum Creek years. So I said early this summer that we are going to go to Walnut Grove this year. And so we did. We first went to the actual location of the dugout that Ingalls family lived when they first moved. Wilbert on the bank of Plum Creek with the site of the dugout on the...

My favorite flower of all time is peonies. I love the smell. I love the big white blooms. They are great cut flowers. They are wonderful. But my new favorite annual to plant is snap dragon. This year I got a mixed color set, and none of them were blooming when I bought them, so I really didn't know what I was going to get. Here are some of the beautiful colors of flowers that have bloomed so far.

Everyone has something that they don't like about the place where they live. Either the bathroom is too small or the closets are too small or there are weird hallways or doors that lead no where. The one thing that I really didn't like about our house was pretty specific - the kitchen flooring. Seriously, who puts carpet in a kitchen and in the end likes it. I am pretty certain that the first week we moved in, I spilled something on it or dropped something on it. I really did not like the carpet at all. Plus, it was sort of a dark gray, blue color and our kitchen was very dark all of the time. The walls are dark and the cupboards are really dark. So, finally, three years later, we have a new kitchen floor. First, the had to pull out the old carpet. We found this lovely pattern underneath. Very pretty. Then the installer put a new sub floor in. And guess what? He said our kitchen floor is a little uneven. Who would have guessed? (please note the sarcasim in that last line) Ta-da...

In my last post talked about our Tomato Tree. Though after some reflection, I have come the conclusion that it is nothing that we did that making this ginormous plant grow (it is still getting bigger by the way). It has to with where we live. In the mid-west, people like things big. Big farms, big tractors, big houses, big plants. Sheesh... even the people big. And not in a grossly obese sort of way, but just a big, tall bone structure way. I am 5' 7" and I often feel short and little when I am in a crowd of people out here. Maybe it because it feels like there is so much space that people, plants, animals, or whatever have the space to become bigger. Maybe they feel like they even need to be bigger to fill in this space, to not be so alone or so microscopic that they are missed. Whatever the reason, things are big out here. Even the bugs. Yuck! That is one big fly I killed. And I also killed his bother, sister and maybe even his parents. Apparently big in this case does not ...

It is the second year we have had a garden. Earlier I posted about the plants I started inside. Well, the tomatoes worked out so great. So great in fact, I think we are growing a tomato tree. Here I am standing behind the tomato tree. Yes, I know I am squinting, but notice that the tallest branches come up to my shoulders. It is tall! And, even better, there are lots of tomatoes and soon to be tomatoes on it. I can't wait until they ripen up. I will keep up updated on the garden and how tall the tomato tree gets.

1) It is cheap. ($5 a person) 2)It is only 20 minutes away. 3) You can bring your own snacks and drinks. 4) It is open every night, so Thursday is a good night to go because it is not very busy 5)New releases play there like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. 6) It makes for a great date. Hurray for the Drive-In!

Check all of the pockets of Wilbert's shorts. Yet another pair lost today to ink from a pen in the cargo pocket. Grrr!

One thing I know I inherited from my mother is my non-procrastination. I do not like to put things off. I always had my homework done on time. I finish my chores right away so I can spend the rest of the day how I want to. I don't like to let papers pile up and not be graded. Students have commented on my quick turnover of paper and tests. It is a good thing, until you get to that one point in time where you do let them pile up and then the students get crabby because you are taking too long. That drives me nuts especially when I know other teachers have stuff from way further back that they have to grade yet. Another non-procrastination thing, I think, is that I do not like to be late. I always allow myself plenty of time. I would rather be early then late. Well, today I was late. To the professional workshop class I am taking. It takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to where I was taking my class. I had it in my head that it started at 8:30 am. So, I woke up at 6:30 am ...

Next week I will be taking my first post education class in order to keep my teaching license. I choose to take this class because it is about writing, which is something I feel is my weakest area of teaching. It is a workshop style class and it meets for just two days. I figured it would be pretty easy. After I signed up for the class I got the materials for the class. It was just three pieces of paper with some more information about the class and on assignment. I needed to take copies of student writing with me to class. So, being the non-procrastinator that I am, I copied student essays right after school was out. So, I thought I was all set. Then came the e-mail yesterday. Attached to it was a 10 page article and the e-mail said I had write a paper. What? I didn't think I would have to do homework. And I have to write for a class about writing! That makes me feel a bit of pressure. What if my own writing is not good enough? Should I be teaching other people to write if I can...

We said "I Do." So we did some fun stuff to celebrate yesterday. My husband had the day off of farming due to all of the rain we have been getting. The weather was looking pretty nice, so we headed out to Falls Park in Sioux Falls. It is a lovely park full of history. The other wonderful thing that this park contains is the start of a 20 mile bike loop that travels along the rivers and parks that go through Sioux Falls. We have been saying every summer since we moved that we should ride the bike trails in Sioux Falls and now we have finally done it! My husband was extremely proud of me that I made it the whole way, because I am typically not one up for biking I would rather walk if I have a choice. Especially when it is windy and it seems like it is always windy here. But these bike trails are great. The loop allows you to bike without having to cross any busy streets and it is a relatively flat trail. And it is just pretty. We didn't really know how nice of a city Sioux...

For Canada Day we hung our Canadian flag outside. An exciting celebration isn't it? For the 4th of July, we accompanied the drumline to two parades. This was exciting, although I have seen enough antique tractors, boats and fire trucks to last me a while. It always seems like all of the area towns bring all of their fire trucks to the parade. I always wonder what would happen if there was a fire. I assume the fire department has enough foresight to leave some trucks behind in case of an emergency like that. Here is my wonderful husband driving the lead vehicle for the first parade. The perks of being the director - you don't have to walk the whole route. The awesome drumline. They are always very well received and they put on a good show. After the parades, the students and parents all went their own ways, so we were able to take our time coming home. One of the best burger joints we have ever had is Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries . We really like their burgers a lot and a...