Watchin' The Rain

What could be better than listening to a hard rain, drinking a cup of Lady Grey tea, reading a good book, and having a sweet kitty on my lap?

Construction at Big Lake

WOW - yesterday was a great day for a bike ride. Sunny, nearly calm winds, temperature in the upper 60s. I headed out from Xtreme Wheels in my hybrid. Goal was to a 30-40 mile ride.
Rode my normal route - Valley View, Lake Manawa, Indian Creek. Veteran's Memorial, and Western Historic Trails to the Trails Center. Made my routine stop there. From there I rode Iowa Riverfront to Big Lake. That made it over 17 miles from the bike shop to Big Lake.
When I got to Big Lake, I was surprised to see all the construction around the lake. The lake is nearly drained, what looks to be is a new ramp to the water, and lots of earth-moving going on.
Visiting with another observer, he suggested I go over the the North parking lot and see what else that is under construction. There, I saw a new drive, parking area, and picnic tables. A paved trail leads to the north lake. There I saw a board walk under construction reaching into the lake.

I understand that Council Bluffs is spending some million dollars on the Big Lake project. Now, if we could get the Iowa Riverfront Trail extended up to Lewis & Clark Monument.
Returned along the river to the Trails Center. After a break there, rode back past the bike shop. As I neared the shop (with 35 miles under the belt), I decided to extend the ride up to Iowa Western CC. With that, I made my goal of over 40 miles for the ride.
It was a good ride. Now while I have ridden more miles in 1 day before, the 40 mile ride was the longest ride without big breaks. This ride was 3 hours and 13 minutes riding time in just over 3.5 hours.

Nassington circular via Glenn Miller monument

A recce for the same walk tomorrow. Details then.




Surprising patches of mud on some paths. Warm, sunny - and back home to catch the Cavendish-Wiggins finale to the Tour de France!





We heard and saw a couple of green woodpeckers on our way. The route is the same as the walk for 23 July .

Mesclun Coming Up

The 'Paris Market Mix' mesclun from Renee's Garden is coming up. This mixture contains arugula, red lettuce, escarole, chervil, and endive.

Last year, I grew the same variety of mesclun, but I never fertilized, which means I never got a harvest. This year, though, things will be different!

Freshwater Spring

Cool, clear water emits from the ground at this spring. The water comes out from under the rocks in the top right-hand portion of the photo.

Holes in the story

At my sister's house, insects lined up for dinner in order of descending appetites.

At my sister's house, mice held a Scherenschnitte party, but it was interrupted at an early stage.

At my sister's house, pixies were unhappy with their needlework, and unthreaded all the leaves.

Natural lines

Lines from a walk by the river Spey. Above, the high water mark from a recent spate.
Below, a very orderly mole.