Maggie's First Tri

The Hickory Grove Triathlon took place today in Colo, Iowa. It's a "sprint triathlon", a 500 yard swim, a fifteen mile bike, and a 5k run (I wonder why they can't settle on a system of measurements?). Maggie, Becky and Laura entered. It was their first tri, and they all did really well. Here are a few pictures of the event:

Ready for the off.

Glad that's all over! Congratulations, Maggie, Becky and Laura - you all did a great job!

Published Again! (Again!!)

Three of my photographs made it into a national magazine - Hobby Farms, in an article featuring Picket Fence Creamery. I'm delighted for Jeff and Jill that their wonderful business is getting well-deserved publicity.

Sample Sunday

A few shots from Sample Sunday at Prairieland Herbs:

There was hula hooping,

a tie-dye station,

and lots of other interesting goodies!

Adel Sweetcorn Festival 2010

Here are a few random images from my walkabout at the sweetcorn festival today:

This little lady was my photo assistant at the parade.

Oops! Who left that head there?

There was popcorn too...

Amaizeing!

Published Again!

I just discovered today that for the second year, a couple of my pictures have been used in the 2010 Dallas County Tourism Guide and website! And the picture in the Picket Fence Creamery ad in the Guide is mine too :)

Big Birthday Bike

Yesterday morning I celebrated my birthday by doing a 52-mile bike ride. (In fact, it was nearer 53 miles because I forgot to restart my computer after one of our rest stops, and had to ride around the block to get it to read 52 for the picture.) It was quite challenging, but having the good company of Maggie, Paula, Laura and Mark helped shorten the road - thanks guys!

Three Course Kebab Dinner

I'd been wanting to do this for a while - a three course meal with kebabs for each course. It seemed like a fun idea, and as my friends who frequent the Iowa State Fair assure me - "food on a stick has no calories". I finally got round to doing it last night, when our good friend and food critic, Linda, came to dinner.

The appetizer was a selection of cheeses - I used Cheddar, Münster, Havarti, and Gouda for a nice variety of colours, textures and flavours. These were put on the skewers with grapes and tomato, and presented on a bed of lettuce garnished with slices of orange and red onion. This was served with Maggie's banana chutney, and raspberry preserve.

The main course was very traditional - cubed beef (marinaded in a blend of oils, with vinegar, onion, garlic and pepper), shrimps, green peppers, new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, baby bella and button mushrooms, red and white onion, all cooked on the barbeque and served on a bed of rice.

For dessert we had fruit salad on a stick - strawberries, kiwi fruit orange, apple, grapes, and cantaloupe. These were just drizzled with a little honey and lemon juice.

The meal was easy to do, and great fun, and we have only just started exploring the endless varieties of delicious (and calorie-free :-p ) goodness that kebabs provide. We're already looking forward to our next supper on a stick.