Wow, two handsome beasts! :) I think it was great that Niels was able to meet up with you FH. Super picture of both of you. Wow, I must say that was a nice bright sunny day. We do not see too many of them here this time of the year - yup, a lot of rain, but mild temps. What a really nice place you have their Doug. Niels, though it was so nice to hear from you, I was really saddened by your story. That must be pretty hard. One good thing is you are in the right kind of job for you and I am sure you are very happy doing that. I hope the green card business for you may be resolved some day, maybe it will not be as difficult as you think to obtain one. If not, would there be any point trying to emigrate to Canada, then crossing the border frequently could be managed to see each other more often?? Any how you seem a happy guy and I am sure you are managing the best way you can. Good Luck. I think it is a great thing what you suggest about forum members getting together and I look forward to meeting up with some one of these days. Any regular poster here is more than welcome to visit us when coming to the island. I have heard of some meetins on the east coast between members, but love to get something happening over on the west one of these "summers" rose time! :) Veilchen, nice picture of your hubby with his catch. Something my husband did for years, but gave up his boat and fishing a few years' ago. I sure miss the fish though and canning and smoking the salmon. We still smoke it now and then, but now we buy it! Pauline - Vancouver Island

We were on our way to the farms in Henry County. I looked it up, and Henry is just NE of Mercer and share a little bit of the boundary. The farms, one is just two miles north of Bishop Hill on a hard road, and the other one is maybe 1/2 mile away on a road that used to be dirt but now, I don't know what, they used to oil it but think it might be blacktop. Well, now I see a couple, Aledo and Viola, Keithsburg are familiar but don't remember being through Kburg. My ex sister-in-law lives in New Boston. We'd take different routes, usually the road through Cambridge and sometimes the road out of Coal Valley, past Orion and then a long straight stretch with a dip where you could see about 2 miles and on into Alpha. In that stretch and off to the right were some woods, and I suppose we were trespassing, but that is where we found the JIP's, trillium and mayapples. I never found any morel mushrooms but wild grapes and made jam. We would stop in Alpha and eat at an old diner which used to be a railway car, think it is no longer there. But I think we went an unfamiliar route that day and could have been in Mercer County, but I thought the sign said Edwards Creek which could run into Edwards River. Now it seems that it WAS Edwards River. I doubt I could find the bridge crossing the river again unless I asked my second cousin in Galva; he might know. It's hard to catch asparagus when it is still a short stalk. Sometimes there will still be some at the base of that, tall, airy foliage. One time I walked or rode my bicycle from my grandmother's in Galva out in the country a short ways and found some, would have had to break it off as I doubt I had my pocket knife with me, and my grandmother cooked it. I'd also grind corn into meal in the barn, shelled it off the cob with a corn sheller, and put it through a large grinder you worked back and forth by hand, have a photo of it, will see if I can find it. It's up in the haymow at the barn on one farm. The barn on the other farm burned down as did my grandma's house after she died. My granddaughter won $50 for her photo of the corncrib which was on a local credit union calendar one year. If you can find some seeds, that would be fun. I think the usual cultivated variety is Martha Washington. You saw my place, and I have already sowed black raspberries and currants. Maybe we will have to move to one of the farms. Seriously. And I finally found Edwards River, and it winds around just near the farms in Henry County. I contributed these maps from my old atlas years ago to USGENWEB. The link to the Mercer County map follows, and the link to the Henry County Map is at the useful link. On the Henry County Map, zoom it up, scroll down almost to the bottom, and you will see the river in Lynn Twp and Andover Twp. Then there is a fork, and it winds SE down near Bishop Hill in Weller Twp. The corncrib, my father and grandfather built during the depression on their farm (my grandfather bought the other one). They are close but different twps, and I can never remember which is in which. I don't know how I get off on these tangents, so many memories when I was a little girl. That is great about your mother being your mentor. This post to assemble the links and photos, took me here, there and everywhere, so now I have completely lost my train of thought and what else I saw in your post. Here is the link to Mercer County. It's easy to miss in the mess I made of this. The link to the Henry County map is just under the corncrib photo. Here is a link that might be useful:

I'm not sure what type they was.I have to get a book on Butterflies. Got one on Iowa birds. Had bird bath I put rocks in-the BF's took baths in it also. But the BF's was allover the KMOGG flowers.

Here is the latest video from the Parrot Rescue. If you love parrots, consider making a donation to this organization. Proven track record of adopting out parrots for many years. Mike vettes each home, contracts are drawn up, and if rehoming does not "take" then the bird comes back to the rescue. To think he can run this on a budget of $35,000 per year is simply amazing. When I think of one parrot I had with a vet bill in one day of $1,000--and some of Mike's birds have been horribly abused by human beings to require continuing medical aid. It's all about the power of LOVE. Here is a link that might be useful: Iowa's Safe Haven