Author Archives: tbavendam

Everett came to visit Sunday after a day of kayaking. Everett LOVES tractors and was thrilled to b able to steer Katie and move the bucket up and down. Craig enjoyed having such a inquisitive boy around that already knew a lot about tractors. We had a fun evening with Everett and his siblings EliContinue reading “A Dream Come True for an 8 year old”

Craig and I were out inspecting various buiding materials he has for building some steps down the slope to the shop. While inspecting these stone blocks left over from building a bridge (that Craig designed and build himself) we noticed number 14 approaching the fence. I slowly walked up to the fence using my bestContinue reading “A budding relationship with number 14”

Our first day in DC was rainy and windy so we did not venture out. Our second day was sunny, cool and breezy. We walked 3/4 mile to the Metro Station in Cleveland Park and rode to Metro Center where we got off and walked along the east and south side of the White HouseContinue reading “A More Meaningful Visit to the Vietnam Memorial”

We were ready with our Hawkeye shirts, chips and guacamole to cheer the Hawkeyes on. They came out on fire and then lost the flame while SC got ignited. It was fun to watch the NCAA tournament. Clearly SC was the better team today and they showed why they are undefeated. It appears that CraigContinue reading “An Excellent Season for the Iowa Women’s Hawkeyes”

I have not had a chance to see the the Hawkeye women play that many times this season and until the NCAA started, they had lost the games I watched so I was feeling like a bad luck charm and decided it was better not to watch. It is not that easy to follow theContinue reading “Hawkeye Women’s Basketball – Iowa has come a LONG way”

Craig caught one mouse this morning and found a couple of traps licked. Unclear if we have caught them all. To increase the odds of catching any future mice, Craig decided to do some research and found a way to modify the standard trap for a “hair trigger” response. Hopefully this will allow us toContinue reading “Mouse traps can be modified – who knew?”

We returned from our trip to DC only to find the mouse or mice that we thought we had rid ourselves of were still here – “when the cats away” is totally true. They chewed parchment paper, hot mitts and left plenty of droppings. Craig did a thorough cleaning of the “food areas” Sunday andContinue reading “Craig hates “meeces to pieces””

The first daffodil buds appeared before my surgery on Feb 15th and it is nice that later blooms are still around. The grass started turning green over night and it is time to start mowing again. I still have 10 days to go before I am finished with my activity restrictions. I can’t wait toContinue reading “Spring has arrived”

This post was written on November 5th 2023. I was waiting for a photo of Danny and Brent’s wedding to include and then forgot…. In the past 2 weeks, we were present for the unexpected death of Craig’s best friend, James Peters and joyful wedding of Danny and Brent. I had the incredible privilege ofContinue reading “Sorrow and Joy – Hug those close to you!”

After reading my latest blog, Craig said “you forgot Valentines Day”. I assured him I had not forgotten but it deserved its own blog. As VD approached, we were both a bit distracted because my surgery would be on the 15th. We both tend towards spontaneous gestures/gifts rather than “big” ones so we both indicatedContinue reading “Our First Valentine’s Day”