My brother, Blake, dislocated his foot during a soccer game a couple of weeks ago.  I made this poster in honor of him.

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Wow, June seems like a busy, busy month around here.  We had a few postings, but didn’t add too many extra pictures.  Until now.

The Gallery is now full of our June pictures.  There are pics of us, the garden progressing along, grass growing, Reagan and Mason doing a triathlon, and the first signs of produce.  Actually, we have been eating all kinds of spinach, lettace, and peas so far this month.

Shortcut to June 2008 pictures

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The Mosquito Magnet. Yes, it works. I don’t know how, but it works. The collection chamber has a clear lid which allows you to see how many bloodsuckers it has caught. If you read yesterdays post, you might realize we are living in fear of being carried away by a flock of mosquitoes.

I filled the propane tank, which cost $21. The last time I had a propane grill, I swear it was $12. Anyhow in 24 hours, it is simply amazing. I thought I’d count mosquitoes and post the death toll. I can’t. The collection container is like a semi-squashed Progresso soup can, except it is plastic and half mesh. The bottom has a large pile, and most of the sides have a thick layer of bugs. There are also a dozen more bugs swirling around and around in the middle who just got sucked in. If bugs could barf, I’m sure they have. There are at least 200 in there. I wonder if I have to dump out the carnage to keep it running. There is still a swarm around the unit. It is attracting them for sure. I can almost get a dog on or off the trolley without getting bit.

200 down, another 2,000,000 to go before we can hang out in the backyard. It was not the cheapest of backyard toys, but it has just shown me that it was worth it.

PS. Reagan checked out the farm after our night of high (60+ mph) winds, hail, and thunderstorms. Nothing happened on the farm except another piece of the dead tree might be down. I like it when my work gets done for me. I think we need a wood stove in our plans, as I have the fuel. PS. The tomatoes are growing great, and I’m getting tired of this tasty spinach. We need to make something else, like Spinach Cabrini out of it. The think we are about to hit a windfall of lettuce next. There are 4 different types growing, with Romaine in the lead.

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Do we have fans checking in on us?

We are high and dry here lately. I have ever seen so many insane thunderstoms in a row, let alone the flooding and tonado watches abound. 10pm tornado sirens?

The day of the big rain here, we had a few gallons of water in the basement, not too much. Luckily we had a foam mat under our rug, which aided in channeling water down the side of the basement, where it went under the couch, towards the office, and pooled at the bottom of the stairs. Yep, the last step ended with a cold foot, telling me something was wrong. Even though I mopped it all up rather quickly (and the basement was sparkling) the water kept soaking in all day long. The Raccoon river just south of us, I have never seen fuller. That night, I drove down to the farm, and after leaving the small Raccoon River Valley, each field had less and less water in it. The farm was practically dry. It took us a few days to realize it, but huge piles of trash was ending up on the curbs. It wasn’t another town clean-up day, it was the sheer amount of flooded basements. We estimate, from the rumors, that between 1/3 and 1/2 of the houses in town got wet basements, some up to the 3rd stair. In the following week, we were real-estate shopping. The houses that had wet basements had a pattern. The wettest room seemed to be under a downspout that was not routed away from the house, or it pooled right back towards the foundation. Keeping our crib’s foundation frost free made us think about the importance of grading and keeping water away.
The rain has kept on coming, I think the Raccoon river has gone down, but the Des Mines river is bad, as in we can’t drive to Ames anymore level of bad. Apparently, Des Moines is on the National News on a daily basis with highher flood levels. I just saw pictures today of Gray’s lake. The bridge over it….well, it was even with it. I can only hope the levels go down before the big Hy-vee Triathlon this year. Otherwise, the transition area along with the beginning of the bike and run legs will all be swimming sections still. Even if the worst happens and it is canceled, I promise to give Reagan the worst workout she has ever seen. She will not get off that easy.

So, want to know the downfall of flooding, besides the unwanted water? Mosquitoes. Yep, those little pain in the any area of exposed skin are breeding and looking for YOU. I took one of the dogs outside this morning, and looked down and thought that my leg was triple hairy all of a a sudden. NO! Just steps from my front door, 30 of them little suckers landed on one. More on the other, plus arms, face, etc. I walked the dog with the leash sticking out the door after that. Later in the day I got the propane tank filled for the Mosquito magnet. Within the first hour, the collection chamber was full of those blood suckers….at least 30. Still to many out to walk around. I’ll have to take count after 24 hours.

We are dry. The farm appears dry. The only water in the basement is the melted ice in my margarita. All is bliss.

UPDATE:  Not an hour later, a big storm came by.  The NWS radar went from red, into purple.  Luckily no tornado warnings or watches for us, just severe Thunderstorm warning.  I got upstairs just to see the rain hit.  I got Reagan to the window, just before the hail started.  Nothing big to the eye, nor did it build up at all, but yuu could sure hear it.

The rain was so intense, we lost sight of the house across the street.  This will not help Des Moines and all points in between.  The last prediction was the levees would hit 5″ of max.  This could be bad.  I’ll check the news tomorrow.

The news story also hit, they are worried about the triathlon.  Apparently they have backup plans to be announced.

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